SK Chemicals has invested E70m in the new facility

SK Chemicals has opened a 140,000tpa PET plant in Wloclawek, Poland. The Korean group is also studying the feasibility of adding a second PET unit with a capacity of 200,000tpa, according to the Polish Information and Foreign Investment Agency (PAIiIZ).

The new E70m PET facility has 78 employees and is operated by SK Eurochem, a joint venture in which SK Chemicals holds 64% of the shares. The remaining shareholders are PKN Orlen with 17% of shares; LG International, 10%; and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, 9%.

Over 60% of the Wloclawek plant’s output will be exported, according to PAIiIZ. Poland, it notes, currently imports over 40% of its PET resin requirement, with Germany as the largest supplier.

The PET plant is SK Chemicals’ first PET facility in Europe and the largest ever Asian investment in Poland’s chemical industry, continued PAIiIZ. The investment, it said, will boost the Korean group’s competitiveness in Europe by reducing logistics costs and removing EU import tariffs on its PET products.