The 2008 Frost & Sullivan Global Plastic Packaging Additives Market Growth Strategy Leadership Award is presented to Songwon Industrial Co., Ltd. for its excellence in growth strategy and subsequent market penetration.
“Songwon has achieved rapid global market penetration in competitive and saturated markets due to superior growth strategies and high operational efficiency,” notes Frost & Sullivan Specialty Chemicals Programme Manager Robert Outram. “The company’s business strategy has been modelled around product quality and customer service, the chief cornerstones of its success.”
Songwon has achieved solid market penetration through manufacturing excellence, with a low cost base, gaining market share from established incumbents. The company is growing rapidly and has already captured a market share of around 13 per cent within a few years. Songnox® 1010, Songnox® 1076 and Songnox® 1680 additives, in particular, are becoming the benchmark additives for the plastics industry.
“Songwon has decided to focus heavily on improving the impurity profile of its additives,” states Outram. “This is an excellent strategy as it is often the impurities from additive production, rather than the additive itself, that packaging companies are concerned about. Songwon has thereby established itself as a reliable and safe producer of plastic packaging additives among plastic manufacturers and end producers. ”
The company has accelerated the penetration of European and U.S. market segments with the execution of a strategy to establish direct presence in both regions through Songwon International. In addition, Songwon has registered the trademarks Songnox®, Songlight®, and Songsorb® globally to further strengthen the brand.
By investing nearly €76 million in a new antioxidants plant in Meaem, Korea in 2007, the company has boosted its capacity from 35,000 to 55,000 tonnes. The chemical process technology used at the Songwon production plants has been developed internally and is one of the best in the market.
Songwon continues its impressive global growth in 2008 via strategic alliances with distributors in the CIS countries and Russia as well as in the rest of Europe and in the Americas. The company has good contacts with China and also opened its Indian office in 2007, thus covering the vast majority of the high growth Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC) regions.
Songwon remains one of the few additive companies which continue to invest in R&D and innovate in a market with increasing global competition and pressure. Among the new products introduced in 2007 include Songnox® 1290 and Songnox® 2500 (phenolic and hydroquinone base antioxidants) and Songnox® 6280 (a hydrolytically stable high performance phosphite antioxidant). Songwon has also introduced three new thioester based antioxidants - Songnox® DSTDP, Songnox® DLTDP and Songnox® 4120 – thereby expanding its portfolio.
The Frost & Sullivan Award for Growth Strategy Leadership is presented to the company that has demonstrated an exceptional long-term growth strategy within its industry.
Jongho Park, Chairman and CEO of Songwon Industrial Co., Ltd. commented: “Songwon has moved from being a regional leader to a global contender in the plastic additives industry. Being recognized by Frost and Sullivan for achieving what we set out to do is extremely satisfying and it is with great pride that I can say that this award belongs not only to our company but also to our customers.”
Frost & Sullivan Best Practices Awards recognise companies in a variety of regional and global markets for demonstrating outstanding achievement and superior performance in areas such as leadership, technological innovation, customer service, and strategic product development. Industry analysts compare market participants and measure performance through in-depth interviews, analysis, and extensive secondary research in order to identify best practices in the industry.