LG Chem Starts ABS Expansion in Ningbo

LG Chem, Ltd., the largest chemical company in Korea, announced in July that the construction to add 150 000 t/a capacity on its ABS (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene) project in Ningbo, Zhejiang province was underway. It is expected that the construction will be completed by the second half of 2006.   Ningbo LG Yongxing Chemical Co. Ltd., which is each owned by LG Chem (75%) and Ningbo Yongxing Chemicals (25%), operates the project. Currently, LG Yongxing’s ABS capacity is 330 000 t/a, once the expansion be completed, its total capacity will reach 480 000 t/a.      The total investment for the new expansion is scheduled to be US$76 million. Through the expansion, LG Chem will gain a total capacity of 1.04 million t/a, adding the 560 000 t/a of ABS plant situated in Yeosu, Korea.     LG Yongxing was established in 1998, and firstly started its production by producing 60 000 t/a ABS. The capacity was expanded to 150 000 t/a in 2001, and further made additional expansions in 2002 to 300 000 t/a. Last year it added an extra 30 000 t/a to gain a total of 330 000 t/a. (CCR1998 No.24, CCR2000 No.31)