Lotte to expand electrolytes in South Korea

Lotte Chemical plans to spend $500 million to expand output of battery materials and other chemicals at its complex in Daesan, South Korea. The company will build plants to make ethylene carbonate and dimethyl carbonate, solvents used as electrolytes in lithium-ion batteries. Lotte is also building a carbon-capture-and-liquefaction facility. The firm will use the 200,000 metric tons per year of captured CO₂ to make the electrolytes. The company will also expand capacity for ethylene oxide adduct (EOA)—used as a water-reducing agent in concrete—by a third. It’s also boosting capacity for high-purity ethylene oxide, a raw material for EOA.