Lotte Chemical Corp. said Monday it is selling its subsidiary in Pakistan to a local chemical company for 192.4 billion won (US$156 million) as part of efforts to streamline its business with a focus on advanced materials and eco-friendly products.

Lucky Core Industries, a Pakistani chemical company, will take over the entire 75.01 percent stake in Lotte Chemical Pakistan Ltd., a unit that mainly engages in the production of purified terephthalic acid (PTA), the Seoul-based company said.

PTA is widely used to make PET bottles and other polymer products, such as fibers, resins and thin films.

Lotte Chemical said it will use the funds from the sale to bolster its advanced materials segment and make further inroads into sustainable chemical products, while upgrading the existing petrochemical products used as feedstock for plastics.

The sale of the Pakistani unit means that Lotte Chemical will no longer engage in the PTA production. It shut down the domestic PTA production line in Ulsan, 307 kilometers southeast, in 2020.

Lotte Chemical, the chemical unit of South Korean retail giant Lotte Group, aims to achieve 50 trillion won in sales in 2030, with about 30 trillion won to be generated from high value-added specialty products and eco-friendly materials.

Source: Yonhap News