Overview
- LG Chem received 27,000 tons of Russian naphtha on Monday, with the cargo bound for the Daesan petrochemical complex in South Chungcheong Province.
- A U.S. waiver for Russian petroleum loaded between March 12 and April 11 enabled the deal, which leaves any follow‑on imports uncertain once it expires.
- The shipment is a token volume next to South Korea’s roughly 4 million tons of monthly naphtha use, so it functions as a stopgap rather than a solution.
- South Korea imports about 45% of its naphtha, 77% of that from the Middle East, where shipping strains have tightened supply and lifted Asia-bound prices by about 60%.
- Naphtha is the base for ethylene used in plastics and chipmaking chemicals, so sustained shortages and higher costs could slow factory output unless more routes open.