Lotte Chemical has opened an ethylene glycerol production facility in Westlake, Louisiana, becoming the first South Korean petrochemical firm to enter the U.S. shale gas ethane cracker industry.
According to Lotte Chemical, the plant can produce up to one million tons of ethylene and 700-thousand tons of ethylene glycol a year using shale gas.
Among the attendees at Thursday's opening ceremony were South Korean Prime Minister Lee Nak-yeon and the U.S. President Donald Trump's Deputy Assistant, Sylvia May Davis, who delivered a letter from Trump.
In his letter, President Trump said (quote) "this is exactly the type of investment the United States wants to celebrate, that we want to see more of."
