GS Caltex to build world’s largest paraxylene plant

Korea’s No. 2 oil refiner, GS Caltex, plans to build a new facility to produce paraxylene (PX) and wants to make it the world’s biggest PX plant. With a current capacity of 1.35 million tons, GS Caltex currently ranks fourth among the world’s largest PX plants. The Seoul-based company has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Japan’s Showa Shell and Taiyo Oil for the construction of a 1-million-metric-ton PX facility at its Yeosu complex. When fully operational, the plant will have a combined capacity of 2.35 million tons of PX a year, which will put it ahead of India’s Reliance Industries with an annual capacity of 1.85 million tons, making it the world’s largest. Korea’s S-Oil with an annual capacity of 1.7 million tons is currently ranked second, followed by Taiwan’s Formosa Petrochemical with a capacity of 1.57 million tons. The three-way partnership is expected to break ground later this year, and investments could reach KRW1 trillion (US$848.8 billion). GS Caltex said there has been a marked increase in demand for PX and they expect the new 1-million-ton project to add US$1.7 billion to its annual export volume. (April 10, 2012)