South Korean petrochemical producer Lotte has announced it will more than double its polycarbonate production capacity at its Yeosu, Korea, site from 100,000 t/y to 210,000 t/y up to the year 2020. Overall output capability will rise to 540,000 t/y,  sealing the company’s position as third largest global player behind Germany’s Covestro and Saudi Arabia’s SABIC.

At the same time, Lotte will add 160,000 t/y of capacity for metaxylene, bringing the site’s total output to 360,000 t/y Up to 2018, it will also widen ethylene capacity to 1.2 million t/y. To raise funds for an expansion in petrochemicals, the group is floating its subsidiary Lotte Chemical Titan based at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

A stock offering planned for autumn 2016 was canceled as the Korean group became embroiled in a corruption allegations scandal.  Proceeds from the current ipo, expected to be in the $800 million range, will be invested in a naphtha cracker in Indonesia and a PP plant in Malaysia.