Hyundai Oilbank said that its Hyundai Chemical plant, a joint-venture with Lotte Chemical, has begun to produce mixed xylene.

The plant, which is located in Seosan, South Chungcheong Province, South Korea, will produce 1.2 million tonnes of mixed xylene and 1 million tonnes of light naphtha annually.

Mixed xylene is a feedstock for xylene, which is used to make plastic bottles and polyester textiles. Light naphtha is mainly used as a petrochemical feedstock.

The company said it would supply mixed xylene to Lotte Chemical and Hyundai Cosmo, which is jointly owned by Hyundai Oilbank and Japan’s Cosmo Oil.

The light naphtha will be consumed by Lotte Chemical for its petrochemical production.

By processing ultra light oil condensate, the condensate splitter can also produce about 50,000 barrels of petroleum products including diesel fuel and jet fuel. This will boost Hyundai Oilbank’s total refining capacity to 520,000 barrels per day (bpd) from the current 390,000 bpd.

Investment in the plant was KRW 1.2 trillion won (USD1.02 billion).