South Korea’s Hanwha Total shuts SM plant after leakages

It is reported that Hanwha Total Petrochemical is forced to shut its styrene monomer (SM) plant in Daesan, South Korea indefinitely after two separate chemical leak incidents poisoned hundreds of employees and nearby residents.

In fact, the first incident took place at around 12.30PM on Friday, 17 May 2019 due to a rising temperature at one of the styrene monomer tanks, sending toxic vapour into the air for about 40 minutes.

The company was able to prevent an explosion with help from firefighters to cool down the tank. However, the second incident soon took place at 3 AM on Saturday. 

Hanwha is one of the largest styrene monomer producers in the country with two production lines having a combined capacity of 1.06 million tons/year.

An inspection is expected to carry out while civic groups and nearby residents are protesting, demanding measures to be taken to prevent the incident from recurring.   

On 9 May 2019, Hanwha has declared a force majeure on styrene monomer supply at No. 2 unit in Daesan due to a labour strike. The unit has a capacity of 650,000 tons/year.