South Korea Biofuel Breakthrough: Industry Chain Reshaping Effect of LG Chemical-Enilive Project

LG Chemical and Enilive officially launched South Korea's first hydrogenated vegetable oil (HVO) and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) production plant. This landmark project is located in LG Chemical Dashan Chemical Park, South Zhongqing Province, about 80 kilometers southwest of Seoul. The joint venture LG-Eni BioRefining-led development, which is scheduled to be completed in 2027 and process 400000 tons of renewable biological raw materials annually.

Strategic significance of capacity scale not to be underestimated. The project is one of the largest single biofuel projects in the Asia-Pacific region and will significantly change the regional supply pattern. More importantly, this investment reflects the firm determination of traditional petrochemical giants to transform to green. LG Chem CEO Shen Xuezhe made it clear that the company is "transforming its portfolio to build a low-carbon foundation for sustainable growth and long-term profitability" and "strengthening its global competitiveness and efficiently meeting the changing needs of its customers" through renewable fuel innovations such as HVO ".

technology path selection reflects the precise market positioning. As a high quality biodiesel, HVO has excellent low temperature performance and high cetane number, while SAF is the core technology solution for decarbonization in the aviation industry. The dual-product strategy effectively avoids single market risks and covers both land and shipping growth areas.

Global Network Collaboration and Market Opportunities

Enilive CEO Stefano Ballista revealed a more forward-looking blueprint for global expansion: "Combined with our operational plants in Italy and the United States, as well as facilities under construction in Italy and Malaysia, the Dashan plant will help us achieve our goal of expanding biorefinery capacity to more than 5 million tons per year by 2030-including 2 million tons of SAF. "

this global capacity network presents three major characteristics: first, geographical distribution optimization covering the three core markets of Europe, America and Asia, reducing transportation costs and close to end demand, capacity scale effect significantly, the target of 5 million tons in 2030 will make Enilive a global leader in biofuels. Third, SAF accounts for 40% it is precisely in line with the demand explosion driven by the International Air Transport Association's 2050 net zero emission target.

Supply Chain Integration Opportunities worthy of chemical practitioners focus on. The project will generate new raw material procurement needs, especially waste edible oil, animal fat and other biomass raw materials; at the same time, it will create cooperation opportunities for chemical equipment suppliers, catalyst manufacturers and logistics service providers.

Policy Dividends further amplify the value of the project. The South Korea Green New Deal, the EU Renewable Energy Directive and the US Sustainable Aviation Fuel Tax Credit have created an enabling regulatory environment.

The project marks the Asia-Pacific biofuel industry has entered a new stage of development, providing regional chemical enterprises with multiple opportunities for technical cooperation, raw material supply and market development.