South Korea’s leading chemical company LG Chem has landed a large-scale contract to supply seawater filters to water treatment company Metito’s desalination plants in Egypt, the company said Sunday.

LG Chem’s latest supply agreement is expected to be worth some 10 to 15 billion won ($9 million to $13 million), similar to the contract signed to provide its filters for the Sohar plant in Oman last year, which was worth at around 10 billion won.

Under the contract, LG Chem will begin providing its reverse-osmosis membranes to Metito’s plants in El Galalah and Port Said in Egypt, starting the second half of this year. The total capacity of the two seawater desalination plants is at 300,000 tons of fresh water per day, according to the company.

Meanwhile, LG Chem is currently in discussions with nations in the Middle East and Africa, such as Saudi Arabia, Algeria and Iran, to provide its RO filters, the company spokesperson said.

The sales of residential RO membranes are increasing noticeably in the regions such as fast-growing China, India and Middle Eastern countries that experience water shortages.

The worldwide RO membrane market is expected to grow to 2.2 trillion won by 2020 from 1.5 trillion won in 2015, the company said. 

With new contracts to follow in the regions, LG Chem aims to expand its market share in the global RO filter industry down the road, it said.

“We will take bold initiatives and proactive investments to lead the global market,” said LG Chem IT&E Materials President Jeong Cheol-dong.

Early this year, LG Chem finished an expansion work of its filter producing facility in Cheongju, where the company spent some 40 billion won.

LG Chem entered the RO membrane market after it acquired NanoH2O in April 2014 for $200 million.

By Shim Woo-hyun  (ws@heraldcorp.com)