2026-10-15
- It is reported that LG Chem resumed naphtha feeding at Yeosu NCC Plant 2 on October 12, 2026, about seven months after the plant was shut on March 23.
- According to the reports, Plant 2 has an ethylene capacity of 800,000 tonnes per year (tpa), while Plant 1 has 1.2 million tpa; only Plant 1 had been running during the outage.
- The restart is described as substitute operation to cover the output lost during the four-year-cycle turnaround of Plant 1, which is scheduled for the end of this month.
- It is said that reaching on-spec production after naphtha feeding usually takes a week or more.
LG Chem has resumed feeding naphtha, the feedstock, to Plant 2 of its Yeosu NCC (Naphtha Cracking Center), which had been idle for about seven months, starting October 12, 2026. According to reports, the plant was stopped on March 23 because of naphtha supply disruptions linked to the Middle East war, and the restart is intended to replace production that will be reduced when Plant 1 enters its turnaround later this month. The main point is that the decision appears to be an operational move to fill the turnaround gap rather than a signal that feedstock supply has fully normalized. The sections below organize the reported facts on the background, scale, schedule and industry context.
An NCC is a unit that cracks naphtha at high temperature to produce basic petrochemicals such as ethylene and propylene. Ethylene is a basic raw material for plastics and synthetic resins and is called the “rice of industry” in Korean press coverage.
According to Global Economic (g-enews), LG Chem fixed the restart date of Plant 2 as October 12 through a corrected disclosure on October 8. It is reported that Plant 2 halted production on March 23 because of naphtha supply disruptions caused by the Middle East war and other factors. At the time, the company reportedly said it would focus on stabilizing feedstock supply and restart quickly once conditions normalized. SBS Biz reported on March 24 that procurement of naphtha had become difficult because of the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, and that LG Chem would stop Plant 2 and run only Plant 1 for the time being.
The purpose of the restart is preparation for the Plant 1 turnaround. Plant 1 faces its four-year-cycle turnaround, and an LG Chem official reportedly expects Plant 2 to replace the company’s own output that will decline during that period. A turnaround is a procedure in which a unit is shut for a set period for inspection and maintenance, so the background appears to be that Yeosu NCC output could fall sharply if Plant 2 were not running while Plant 1 is down.
Numbers
Yeosu NCC consists of Plant 1 with an ethylene capacity of 1.2 million tpa and Plant 2 with 800,000 tpa. By simple calculation, the combined ethylene capacity is 2 million tpa, of which Plant 2 accounts for 40%. It is reported that only Plant 1 had been operating since Plant 2 was stopped in March.
Timeline
- 2026-03-23 — LG Chem halts Yeosu NCC Plant 2 amid naphtha supply disruptions
- 2026-03-24 — SBS Biz reports naphtha procurement difficulty from the Hormuz blockade and the Plant 2 shutdown
- 2026-03-25 — YTN reports from the Yeosu complex that only Plant 1 remains in operation
- 2026-10-08 — LG Chem fixes the restart date as October 12 through a corrected disclosure
- 2026-10-12 — Naphtha feeding resumes at Yeosu NCC Plant 2 (about seven months after the halt)
- 2026-10 (end) — Four-year-cycle turnaround of Yeosu NCC Plant 1 is scheduled
Note
On-spec means that the product has reached normal quality that meets specifications. The lagging effect refers to the way price differences between the time feedstock is purchased and the time products are sold are reflected in earnings through inventory.