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Finance chief urges petrochemical firms to speed up self-restructuring

Published: 04 Nov. 2025, 13:11 Updated: 04 Nov. 2025, 14:37

Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol speaks during a meeting of industry-related ministers at the government complex in Seoul on Nov. 4. [YONHAP]

Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol on Tuesday called on struggling petrochemical companies to accelerate their own restructuring efforts, insisting that what he called a "golden time" for such an overhaul will expire with the year's end.

The government had earlier requested local petrochemical firms to submit detailed restructuring plans by year-end as part of a broader push to reform the sector, which has suffered a prolonged downturn stemming from a global supply glut.

"As the deadline promised by the industry is fast approaching, I urge all industrial complexes and companies to engage in an all-out drive to speed up restructuring," Koo said during a meeting of industry-related ministers. "The end of the year is the golden time."

In August, the government signed a business restructuring agreement with 10 major petrochemical companies. Under the deal, the firms aim to collectively reduce up to 3.7 million tons of naphtha cracking center production capacity.

Korea is one of the world's largest importers of naphtha, a crude oil derivative used to produce chemical materials for plastics in automobiles, electronics and clothing.

The domestic petrochemical industry has been grappling with a prolonged slump amid slowing global demand and large-scale capacity expansions in China and the Middle East, which have exacerbated supply-demand imbalances.

Yonhap