S-Oil Corp., South Korea's third-largest refiner, said Sunday it has begun full-fledged operation of the world's single largest paraxylene plant on the country's southeast coast.
Since March, S-Oil had conducted a test run of the plant capable of producing 900,000 tons of paraxylene, which is used as a feedstock for synthetic fibers.
The new plant located in Ulsan, an industrial city about 414 kilometers southeast of Seoul, raises S-Oil's annual production of paraxylene to 1.6 million tons, the company said.
S-Oil also said it began operation of a new benzene plant with an annual capacity of 600,000 tons, increasing its annual benzene output to 900,000 tons. Benzene is a raw material for various petrochemical products, including synthetic resin.
The two plants, built at a combined cost of 1.3 trillion won (US$1.2 billion), are expected to raise S-Oil's annual sales by 3.5 trillion won and exports by $3.2 billion, the refiner said.
In addition, S-Oil said it has raised its daily crude refining capacity to 669,000 barrels from 580,000 barrels in order to secure more naphtha, a very flammable liquid used as raw material for various chemical products.