Lotte Chemical scraps USD 55.5m (KRW 77bn) Ulsan chemical recycling plant
Lotte Chemical's board cancelled a USD 55.5m (KRW 77bn) chemical recycling investment at its Ulsan plant on 17 September 2026, halting construction of a 45,000 tonnes-per-year depolymerisation unit first announced in May 2021. Spending is capped at the USD 12.0m (KRW 16.6bn) already incurred and the remaining USD 43.5m (KRW 60.4bn) is cancelled. The completed C-rPET line will be left idle rather than demolished, with the company citing Chinese oversupply and weak eco-plastics profitability.
Why this mattersA major South Korean producer abandoning the country's first depolymerisation plant signals weak near-term economics for advanced PET recycling under Chinese oversupply of virgin resin.
- A board resolution of 17 September 2026 cancelled the waste-plastic chemical recycling investment at Ulsan Plant 2.
- Spending is fixed at the USD 12.0m (KRW 16.6bn) already incurred; USD 43.5m (KRW 60.4bn) of planned expenditure is cancelled.
- The project covered a 45,000 tonnes-per-year depolymerisation unit feeding a 110,000 tonnes-per-year chemically recycled PET line.
- The investment was announced in May 2021 with completion targeted for end-2023, later moved to end-2027.
- The built C-rPET production equipment will remain idle rather than be demolished; the company calls the decision a suspension.
- Lotte Chemical cites Chinese oversupply and low eco-friendly plastics profitability, redirecting cash to core business restructuring.