Korea Petrochemical Ind said on the 28th it will preemptively raise the operating rate of its naphtha cracking center (NCC) to 72% from the previous 62% in step with the government's supply chain stabilization policy.
As the Middle East crisis has continued for more than two months and instability in naphtha supply has prolonged, domestic petrochemical corporations had reduced NCC operating rates, but they are now raising them. This comes as the government, through the "2026 naphtha supply stabilization support project," subsidized up to 50% of the increase in naphtha import unit prices, supporting stability in naphtha procurement.
Korea Petrochemical Ind diversified its supply lines to the United States and elsewhere immediately after the war broke out, minimizing disruptions in naphtha procurement. It also deployed a workaround strategy of directly purchasing basic feedstocks such as ethylene and propylene instead of scarce naphtha and feeding them into polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) production.
A Korea Petrochemical Ind official said, "Even amid an unprecedented raw material supply crisis, we will actively respond to the government's supply chain stabilization policy by aggressively expanding procurement of raw materials such as naphtha and raising the NCC operating rate to 72%," adding, "We will continue to fulfill our responsibility as a key national industry to ensure there are no disruptions to downstream industries and people's daily lives."
Meanwhile, Yeochun NCC also announced on the 27th that it raised its plant operating rate to 65% from the previous 60%.