SEOUL, Nov. 30 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea’s SK Group said Wednesday that it has agreed with a Chinese chemicals maker to scrap their plan to establish a joint venture to produce butanediol, a key material used to make synthetic fibers.
In 2013, SK Global Chemical and Sinopec announced a plan to invest some 680 billion won (US$580 million) in the construction of the plant in the southwestern Chinese city of Chongqing with a capacity of producing 200,000 tons of butanediol by 2015.
In a regulatory filing, SK Innovation Co., the parent for SK Global Chemical, said its overseas unit has decided not to pour money into the joint venture, citing a rise in the prices of natural gas and a protracted slump in the global butanediol market.
Butanediol is used to make spandex, synthetic leather and polyurethane.
(Yonhap)