On 30 May 2011 refinery operator S-Oil (Seoul / South Korea; www.s-oil.com) officially commissioned its expanded “No. 2 Aromatic complex” in Osnan / South Korea. The facility now has capacity to churn out 900,000 t/y of polyester and PET feedstock paraxylene (PX), making it “the largest single PX plant in the world”, according to S-Oil. The plant also has capacity to produce 300,000 t/y of benzene. Overall, the capacity expansion more than doubled S-Oil’s PX capacities, which now stand at 1.6m t/y, and raised its benzene capacity to 600,000 t/y. In addition, the Korean group also raised its crude oil refining capacity by 15% in order to secure additional naphtha supplies.

Commenting on the additional capacity, S-Oil said: “The No. 2 Aromatic complex is our new growth engine and future driving force.” The South Korean group predicts the expansion will raise its exports by about USD 3.2 bn each year.