Lotte bids for Jurong Aromatics

Lotte Chemical, of South Korea, has put in a bid for Jurong Aromatics, a troubled Singapore-based petrochemical producer. In a statement, Lotte said it had sent a letter of intent to Jurong. Built at a cost of $2.4 billion, the aromatics complex features an 800,000-metric-ton-per-year p-xylene plant. The firm started production in August 2014 but went into receivership one year later because of operational problems, according to a law firm advising the receivers. Jurong is owned by a consortium that includes SK Energy, Jiangsu Sanfanxiang, Glencore, and the Singapore government.