Korea’s Lotte gains ABS foothold in Indonesia; plans major additional investment

Lotte Advanced Materials is betting that demand for ABS resin in Indonesia will grow on the back of increasing production of consumer goods, appliances and automobiles. Indonesia manufactured around 903,000 vehicles in the first nine months of 2017, representing an increase of 3% year-on-year. 4.3 million motorcycles and scooters were also sold in the first three quarters of calendar 2017, although this was a 4.9% decline on the same period for 2016.

Since the Lotte Group undertook a land swap with the Korean government in February 2017 to enable deployment on the US Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) interceptor system on the Korean Peninsula, its fortunes have taken a dive in China, with government-instigated boycotts of the company’s products there and the closure of its hypermarket and supermarket chain in China. China views THAAD as a threat to its domestic security. This latest move by Lotte to invest more in Indonesia is seen by observers as a “post-China” strategy of the group.
Lotte Advanced Materials said it plans to expand overall capacity to 73,000 tonnes/year over the course of the next year at the two supplier and restart commercial Lotte Advanced Materials said it plans to expand overall capacity to 73,000 tonnes/year over the course of the next year at the two supplier and restart commercial