LG Chem has introduced new sales and investment goals for five of its core business areas  in hopes of earning a spot in the global top 5 in the industry by 2025.

It is the first Korean company to have been selected as one of the top 10 companies in C&EN’s Global Top 50 chemical companies of 2018, published by American Chemical Society. LG Chem plans on increasing its sales this year by 14.5 percent to 32 trillion won (US$28.37 billion) to further advance its standing in the industry.

Specifically, at the basic materials and chemicals division there will be continued investments in technology-based businesses such as ABS and high-value POs, as part of its plans to focus on high-value products.

In the IT and electronics materials division, the company plans on expanding the OLED materials business, diversifying the product lineup by including large encapsulation films for TVs and small to medium-sized protective films for mobile phones.

LG Chem also plans to expand its battery production capacity to 1.7 million units for high-performance pure electric vehicles (100GWh) by 2020.

According to the company, investments in research and development have been prioritized to sustain the continued growth. Last year, it invested more than 1 trillion won in R&D and plans to increase the amount by 10 percent every year.

(khnews@heraldcorp.com)