[Alpha Biz=(Chicago) Reporter Paul Lee] Lotte Chemical succeeded in achieving a surplus in the second quarter and is expected to end the deficit that had continued in the previous fourth quarter.

The LG Chem is expected to make nearly 900 billion won in operating profit, and the petrochemical industry is showing signs of rebounding in the second quarter.

According to FnGuide and related industries on the 14th, Lotte Chemical's operating profit in the second and fourth quarters is expected to be 78.1 billion won. It is expected that it will end its fourth consecutive quarter of operating loss until the first quarter of this year after posting a deficit of 21.4 billion won in the second quarter of last year.

Although the performance of Lotte Energy Materials (formerly Iljin Materials) is fully reflected and it has slowed down in June, it is expected that the business conditions of major products in the second quarter will recover slightly and the performance will be improved. In fact, ethylene spreads (the price of ethylene minus naphtha), which rose to around $ 200 per ton last month, fell to $ 139 per ton as of the 9th. In general, the break-even point of ethylene spread is around $ 300.

The LG Chem is expected to make 891.6 billion won in operating profit, up nearly 200 billion won from 690.7 billion won in the first quarter. It is predicted that profit growth will continue mainly in battery materials such as bipolar materials and separators amid solid earnings improvement of its subsidiary LG Energy Solutions.

 

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