SKC Opens PO Plant in Korea       

On July 23rd, SKC announced that its new propylene oxide (PO) plant in Ulsan successfully started the world's first commercial production of PO based on hydrogen peroxide propylene oxide (HPPO) process. The company has invested over KRW 200 billion into the new PO plant since it entered into a license agreement with two Germany-based leading global chemical companies, Evonik and Udhe, to use the companies' HPPO technology in May 2006.
   The new PO plant produces 100 thousand tons per year, increasing the company's total annual PO production capacity to 275 thousand tons.
   As the new plant is running at 100% of its design capacity, it can satisfy customers' test in specifications and quality of its product. As a short-term plan, the company aims to improve productivity of the new plant by 20% by the end of this year, 30% by the first quarter of 2009, simply by improving processing efficiency. By the first half of 2011, SKC plans to expand its annual domestic PO production capacity to 400 thousand tons to meet the growing domestic demand.
   In addition, SKC is also actively pursuing international expansion. As the first step, the company is considering establishment of additional 400 thousand t/a production facilities in China or other Asian countries, where continued shortage in PO supply is forecast.