LG Chem to join ranks of global top 5
LG Chem has set its sights on joining the pantheon of the world’s top five chemical firms by 2025 with a massive investment and enhanced business portfolio.
The Seoul-based company believes that such efforts will help prepare itself for the looming Fourth Industrial Revolution that is expected to introduce sweeping changes in the industry.
First, the nation’s leading chemical company plans to invest 2.76 trillion won ($2.46 billion) to boost its competitiveness in existing businesses and nurture new cash cows this year. The amount is up 40 percent from the previous year. In addition, it is set to spend a record 1 trillion won for research.
LG Chem’s key businesses are in basic materials and chemicals; energy solutions; IT and Electronics materials; advanced materials and life sciences.
By sector, it plans to advance the business portfolio, centered on high-value products, including elastomers, acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) and engineering plastics, in the field of basic materials and chemicals to continuously boost its competiveness in the global market.
In that respect, LG plans to increase elastomer production to 290,000 tons by 2018 — the world’s third-largest volume by company. Plus, it started running a production facility with an annual capacity of 400 tons of carbon nanotubes in Yeosu, South Jeolla Province. It invested 25 billion won in the plant.
The company is mapping out a plan to continuously secure deals pertaining to third-generation electric vehicles with a range of more than 500 kilometers behind pre-emptive research that will help it gain the upper hand in prices and capabilities.
In terms of energy storage systems and other batteries, LG Chem plans to focus on expanding its presence in newly emerging markets and improve profitability with differentiated and cost-effective products.
The world’s largest manufacturer of large-sized polarizers, LG has continued to expand its production lines in the emerging Chinese market.
In addition, it has also gained traction in the global water resource management market after winning a supply deal with Oman for water treatment filters in June 2016. It came with another contract to provide reverse osmosis filters for desalination plants in Egypt in June of 2017 — the largest of its kind in the North African country.
When it comes to life sciences, the company is focused on three key businesses: metabolic disease, biomedicine and vaccines and seeks to beef up its relevant overseas businesses as part of its efforts to fully nurture its life sciences sector.
Setting energy, water and bio as future growth engines, LG will invest 1 trillion won in relevant research, with a plan to increase the investment by 10 percent every year.
The company announced last week that its second-quarter operating profit advanced 18.7 percent from the previous to 727 billion won thanks to steady demand for its key products — particularly basic materials. Its sales also rose 22.3 percent to 6.38 trillion won over the cited period.