(left) Samyang Co. has signed a deal to set up a joint-venture company to produce ion exchange resion. 

(right) Samyang Group Chmn. Kim Yoon, recently elected as the chairman of the Korea-Japan Economic Association.

(Photos: Samyang Grouparticle by SKL)

Samyang Co. and Mitsubishi Chemical Co. of Japan have agreed to set up Samyang Fine Technology Co., a 50-50 joint-venture, in the Gunsan Free Trade Zone to produce 20,000 tons of ion exchange resin annually by 2015, Samyang said on Jan. 14. 

The new j.v. company is to be led by President Lim Seung-taek and it is projected to take advantage of Samyang’s know-how to produce ion exchange resin at its plant in Ulsan, Korea, and the Japanese chemical giant’s advanced technology is expected to generate great synergy in running the new firm.

Ion exchange resin is used in the production of semiconductor chips, LCDs, and the treatment of water from nuclear power plants. The demand for the chemical product has been rising with its uses expanding into such areas as the separation and refinement of medical products. It acts like the human liver by eliminating impure elements in chemical and biological processes and semiconductor chips during their production processes.

Samyang and Mitsubishi Chemical also signed an agreement for investments to set up a joint venture with Gunsan City, North Jeolla Province, and the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy on July 24 last year at the Gunsan Municipal office. 

President Lim Seung-taek said at the moment, the next-generation ion exchange resin is being imported to supply the entire domestic demand for the chemical product and the new j.v. firm is expected to pull in 100 billion won in sales revenue from 2015 when it goes online with more than 50 billion won in profit.

When Samyang Fine Technology goes online in the first half of 2015 it will be the largest single company producing the next-generation ion exchange resin in Asia. Samyang and Mitsubishi Chemical will jointly take care of the sales of the chemical product and will gradually increase investments as the need arises to expand the plant.

President Lim, a career Samyang man, joined Samyang following his graduation from Dankook University in 1985 with a degree in chemistry and came up through the ranks, most recently being the head of the Ion Exchange Resin Team at Samyang Co.

The next generation ion exchange resin particle sizes range from 0.3 mm to 1.2 mm, but the size of the even uniformity ion exchange resin ranges in size from 0.5 mm to 0.6 mm, therefore giving it high ion exchange capacity and thus an outstanding material separation capacity.