Fire at South Korea facility injures 56

A FIRE has occurred at Lotte Chemical’s naphtha cracker in Seosan, South Korea, injuring at least 56 people.  

According to South Korean news agency Yonhap, the fire broke out at 02:59 local time on 4 March and was extinguished at 05:12. It occurred at the naphtha cracker in Daesan petrochemical complex in Seosan, 120 km south of Seoul, while naphtha was being compressed. The exact cause of the fire is still unknown. Yonhap reported that at least 56 people were injured, and two are in a serious condition.

Lotte Chemical has suspended nine of 13 facilities. According to Independent Commodity Intelligence Services (ICIS), this includes suspension of a 150,000 t/y butadiene plant, and a 250,000 t/y monoethylene glycol unit.

According to ICIS, the cracker produces 1.1m t/y of ethylene and 540,000 t/y of propylene.