Nov. 8 – Lotte Versalis Elastomers is the fruit of the joint venture between Versalis, an ENI chemical company and a global leader in the field of elastomers, and Lotte Chemical, one of the largest petrochemical companies in South Korea. Sooyoung Huh for Lotte Chemical and Daniele Ferrari, CEO of Versalis, gave the news at the Korea Investment Ceremony in Europe, held in Brussels to celebrate South Korea’s government investments in Europe. The new joint venture will be based in Yeosu (South Korea), and will manage the production flow for the main areas of application within the elastomer business, especially for automotive, styrene tire polymers, and technical products. These are markets with increasing development opportunities in Asia. The joint venture follows the October 2012 Letters of Agreement for the development of an elastomers production plant, always in Yeosu, between Versalis and Lotte Chemical (then Honam Petrochemical). The industrial complex will house elastomers facilities, including a unit for products derived from butadiene and ethylene-propylene, for a total capacity of about 200 kty. The joint venture adds to other important recently accomplished milestones by Versalis in the field, such as the giant petrochemical joint venture with Petronas for the development and the joint use of a manufacturing plant in Malaysia. Versalis is present in the Asia-Pacific region through its subsidiary Eni Trading Chemicals and Versalis Pacific Trading, based in Shanghai. “Versalis – says Ferrari – aims to achieve a leading role in countries with a high and promising development rate; and Asia represents a great opportunity for our product portfolio’s growth.”
