Hanwha Chemical President Kim Chang-bum.

Hanwha Chemical’s Yeosu plant.(Photos:Hanwha Chemical)

Hanwha Business Group’s deal to acquire Samsung Group’s petrochemical and defense units makes the former the ninth biggest conglomerate in Korea in terms of assets. Before the deal Hanwha was 10th. The acquisition will likely solidify a growth platform in the petrochemical and defense industry businesses, the matrix of the establishment of Hanwha Group. Hanwha Chemical has played a leading role in mergers and acquisitions in the petrochemical sector. 

Since its establishment in 1965, Hanwha Chemical has been endeavoring to innovate in technological power and achieve economies of scale. It has sought to rise global standards in basic industrial materials, including polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polyethylene (PE) and chlor-alkali (CA). It wants to expand to new business areas, such as solar energy, biopharmaceuticals, secondary battery materials and nanotechnology. 

Hanwha Chemical became the first Korean company to produce such basic petrochemical materials as PVC. And the company has manufactured low-density PE and CA. The company continues to grow into a global behemoth by making a splash in such new industries as eco-friendly technologies that will emerge as growth engines of the future. 

Hanwha Chemical (President Kim Chang-bum) focuses on value-added, specialized products in the conventional petrochemical industry, and it is making inroads into such global markets as the Middle East and China. The company is also endeavoring to explore such new industries as photovoltaic power, bio pharmaceuticals and nanotechnology.

In particular, Hanwha Chemical is accelerating its efforts to develop value-added products through endless technological innovation. It is researching value-added, specialized items. Hanwha Chemical was the first Korean company to develop composite resins for insulating and covering power and communications cables. It was in 1985 that the company produced ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) for solar batteries, electricity lines and coating for the first time in Korea. 

In 2012, a high-density EVA plant expansion has brought the company’s EVA production capacity to 160,000 tons annually to rank fifth in the world. A few companies in the world are capable of producing high-density EVA products, which contain more than 40 percent of vinyl acetate, requiring state-of-the-heart technology.  

Hanwha Chemical is striving to explore markets in Southeast Asia and the Middle East in order to secure optional production centers to make up for unit price hikes. Hanwha Chemical has become the sole Korean company to enter a crude oil exporting country in the Middle East. The company also signed a joint-venture deal with Sipchem, Saudi Arabia’s leading petrochemical and chemical manufacturer, to construct an EVA/LDPE plant with annual production capacity of 200,000 tons. The joint-venture plant is to launch production in the second half of this year.

Hanwha Chemical Rising to Global Top Three Photovoltaic Power Co.

Hanwha Chemical is accelerating its efforts to nurture new industries, including photovoltaic power. In 2008, the company declared its entry into the photovoltaic power market. In 2010, Hanwha Chemical acquired Solar Fund Holdings, which is among the top four in the world’s photovoltaic power industry. Hanwha Q Cells have been in production since the acquisition of Q Cells of Germany in 2012. It specializes in cell production and downstream fields. Hanwha Group has grown into the world’s top-three photovoltaic power company. 

Hanwha Chemical saw its Yeosu plant churn out polysilicon in the first half of last year, completing a vertical integration of the photovoltaic power industry, covering polysilicon, ingot, solar cells, module and photovoltaic power generation.