Lotte Chemical Titan Holding Bhd. (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia), a subsidiary of Lotte Chemical Corp. (Seoul, South Korea), has announced the launch of commercial operations at its $3.95 billion steam cracker and derivatives complex at Merak, Cilegon, Indonesia, as per Chemweek.The Lotte Chemical Indonesia New Ethylene (LINE) Project, developed by the company’s subsidiary PT Lotte Chemical Indonesia, “successfully commenced commercial operations on 15 October 2025,” Lotte Chemical said in a Bursa Malaysia filing dated Oct. 15.The integrated petrochemicals facility has an annual nameplate production capacity of 1 million metric tons of ethylene, 520,000 metric tons of propylene and 140,000 metric tons of butadiene.The Asian olefins market is currently oversupplied, due primarily to a wave of recent capacity additions and weak demand for key derivatives amid a sluggish economic outlook.The LINE project is a joint venture between Lotte Chemical Titan, its parent Lotte Chemical Corp. and other Lotte Group affiliates.In August, Lotte Chemical Indonesia achieved on-spec production at the site’s 250,000 metric tons per year polypropylene (PP) plant at Cilegon.The project’s naphtha-fed cracker has been operating smoothly since May this year, achieving on-spec production of ethylene, propylene and butadiene, according to a Platts report on Aug. 14. The company already operates two existing PP units with a combined capacity exceeding 390,000 metric tons per year. Platts is part of S&P Global Commodity Insights.Petchems oversupplyOn Aug. 6, Lotte Chemical Titan reported a narrowing in net losses for the second quarter, to 173 million Malaysian ringgit (approximately $40.8 million), from losses of 248.8 million ringgit in the prior-year period.The improvement was primarily attributed to enhanced margins, although the company said in its outlook at that time that persistent oversupply of petchem products continued to destabilize supply and demand dynamics, regionally and globally.In May, Lotte Chemical Titan announced the signing of a three-year sales contract with Aramco Trading Singapore Pte. Ltd., an affiliate of Saudi Aramco, for the purchase of naphtha. The contract runs from July 2025 to June 2028. Under the agreement, Aramco will supply around 300,000-400,000 metric tons per year of naphtha.In August, Lotte Chemical Indonesia signed a 10-year sale and purchase agreement with PT Lotte Chemical Titan Nusantara for the supply of approximately 350,000 metric tons per year of ethylene. The total value of the contract was $2.9 billion.Platts assessed ethylene CFR Northeast Asia stable day over day at $780 per metric ton on Oct. 22, based on tradable indications at the same level. The CFR Southeast Asia assessment was stable day over day at $770 per metric ton, in line with the adjacent CFR Northeast Asia market movement.The ethylene-naphtha spread was calculated on Oct. 21 at $240 per metric ton, below the typical spread of $250 per metric ton for integrated producers and the typical $300-$350 per metric ton for non-integrated producers, Platts data showed.
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