Contrasting Futures: Japan vs Korea in Refining and Chemicals

Japan and South Korea, both mature refining markets in Asia, have different sets of challenges in the evolving refining landscape. While Japan is optimizing its capacity and shifting the focus to integration, South Korea is further building on deeper petrochemical integration to boost profitability. Moreover, both countries are also leading efforts for bio feedstock co-processing in Asia. This insight addresses key questions: How will Japan and South Korea's Steam cracker feedstocks evolve? What is the value addition from Petrochemical integration and how will that help the refiners ensure future-proof operations? How will S-Oil's Onsan refinery perform and compete globally after the Shaheen Project? What strategies are refiners using to boost profitability? Why is the refinery rationalization landscape different for Japan and South Korea? How Japan and South Korea are leading in diversification into bio feedstock processing in Asia?