South Korea to ban petrochemical hoarding amid Iran crisis

SEOUL, April 14 : South Korea's industry ministry said on Tuesday it will ban the hoarding of key petrochemical feedstocks and introduce emergency supply-demand controls as authorities move to stabilise supply chains amid the Iran crisis.

The regulation, which will take effect at midnight on April 15 through to June 30, prohibits stockpiling of seven naphtha-based feedstocks including ethylene, propylene, butadiene, benzene, toluene and xylene, as well as other related fractions.

Under the measure, businesses handling these materials will be barred from holding inventories exceeding 80 per cent above levels from the same period a year earlier, the ministry said in a statement.