Sep 20 2004
LG Chem, Ltd., the largest chemical company in Korea, announced today that it will establish a holding company in Beijing, China by 2005. The formation of the holding company, 'LG Chem (China) Investment Co., Ltd.' is part of the company's plan to become the Top 5 chemical company in China.
The holding company, scheduled to open on January 1st 2005, will cover the overall management of LG Chem's business in China, such as business strategies, financials, Human Resources, and legal affairs. The company currently has 8 manufacturing facilities, 2 marketing offices, and 3 branch offices in the region.
"We have advanced our initial plan to switch our Chinese Central Office into a holding company by 2008 in order to deal with the explosive business expansion trend in China. The establishment of a holding company will enable LG Chem to increase its management efficiency over its current businesses as well as lay grounds for the entrance into new business areas in China," said Jong-Pal Kim, President of LG Chem China.
In addition to the formation of a holding company, LG Chem plans to set up a R&D center to complete its business structure from its initial stage of product development to manufacturing and sales. Such completion is expected to meet local customers' needs in a timely fashion.
"Local production currently takes up about 40%(USD 820 million) of our sales in China. We plan to increase this portion to 57%(USD 1.84 billion) by 2006 and 79%(USD 3.56 billion) by 2008, ultimately reaching the level of 100%," Kim added.
With the company's success in its petrochemical business in China, LG Chem plans to expand its complete business structure from production to sales for its Industrial Materials and Information & Electronic Materials business in China.
"We are forecasting an increase in our sales in China from last year's USD 1.5 billion to USD 2.1 billion in 2004 and USD 3.2 billion in 2006. Moreover, with sales of USD 4.5 billion and an operating profit rate of 7% by 2008, the company aims to become the Top 5 chemical company in China in terms of both scale and profitability," Kim said.
For more information on electronic materials, click here.