(Adds Lotte Chemical denial, paragraph 2)
By Joyce Lee
SEOUL, April 24 (Reuters) - South Korean petrochemical
company LG Chem 051910.KS denied on Wednesday a media report
saying it is considering merging its naphtha cracker business
with rival Lotte Chemical 011170.KS .
Lotte Chemical also denied the report in a regulatory filing
on Wednesday.
Shares in South Korean industry No. 1, LG Chem, and No. 2,
Lotte Chemical, rose 2.8% and 3.8% respectively versus the wider
market's .KS11 1.7% rise, after newspaper Korea Economic Daily
reported they are in talks to potentially merge their
general-purpose naphtha cracker businesses to prevent losses as
supply from China increases.
(Reporting by Joyce Lee; Editing by Christian Schmollinger and
Tom Hogue)
((joyce.lee@tr.com;))