LG Chem, South Korea’s largest chemical company, plans to spend $2.3 billion to expand its ethylene and polyolefin production capacity by 2021. The expansion will increase the production capacity of LG Chem’s naphtha cracker in the southwestern city of Yeosu by 800,000 tonnes per year of ethylene and polyolefin.

Currently, LG Chem operates a 1.16 million tonnes per yearethylene plant in Yeosu and another 1.04 million tonnes per year ethylene plant in the southwestern city of Daesan. The investment is part of the company’s efforts to focus on boosting lucrative items and strengthen its competitiveness. The expanded plant is expected to start producing from the second half of 2021, and to increase the company’s total ethylene production capacity to 3.3 million tonnes per year by 2022.