Dignitaries, including Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Joo Hyung-hwan, President Akihiro Nikkaku of Toray Industries, and Toray Advanced Materials Korea Chairman & CEO Lee Young-kwan, cut the ribbon at a ceremony to celebrate the dedication of Toray Advanced Materials Korea’s polyphenylene sulphide (PPS) production plant at the Saemangeum Industrial Complex in Gunsan, Jeollabuk-do, on July 6.

A view of Toray Advanced Materials Korea’s polyphenylene sulphide (PPS) production plant at the Saemangeum Industrial Complex. (Photos: Toray Advanced Materials Korea)

Toray Advanced Materials Korea dedicated the world’s largest polyphenylene sulphide (PPS) production plant at the Saemangeum Industrial Complex in Gunsan, Jeollabuk-do, on July 6. The plant, equivalent to the size of 30 soccer fields, will act as a springboard to make inroads into the Chinese market. Among roughly 200 people on hand at a dedication ceremony were Toray Advanced Materials Korea Chairman & CEO Lee Young-kwan; Minister Joo Hyung-hwan of the Ministry of Trade; Industry and Energy (MOTIE); and President Akihiro Nikkaku of Toray Industries. 

In his speech, Toray Advanced Materials Korea Chairman Lee said, “We’ll expand its whole business size to make the Gunsan plant a world-class PPS production center.” He unveiled a plan that calls for sales of 5 trillion won and operating profit of 500 billion won by 2020 by strengthening the PPS presence. 

PPS is dubbed as a “super engineering plastic” since it can endure temperatures as high as 200 degrees Centigrade and be fabricated with ease. 

PPS, a replacement to metals, is a high value-added resin, which is lighter than metals, so it is in wide use in such eco-friendly cars as EVs and hydrogen vehicles.  

Toray Advanced Materials Korea plans to nurture the PPS plant in Gunsan as its future growth engine. Toray Advanced Materials  Korea acquired former Woongjin Chemical, now Toray Chemical, in 2014. Tokyo-based Toray Industries’ operation in Korea is now poised to make a quantum jump on the occasion of the dedication of the PPS plant in Gunsan. 

The PPS plant is equipped with an integrated production system ranging from raw materials to resins and compounds. The Gunsan plant is the first integrated PPS plant in the world. Demand for PPS is on the rise, but the Gunsan plant can secure a competitive edge since such integrated PPS plants are rare, Toray Advanced Materials Korea officials said. 

Toray Advanced Materials Korea is an example of a success story concerning Japanese investments in South Korea. Starting with the acquisition of a 34 percent stake in Jeil Synthetics, which Samsung Group established in 1972, Toray Industries continued to expand investments in Korea. 

Toray established a Toray saehan, a joint venture with Saehan, and the former acquired a 100 percent stake in the joint venture and changed its name to Toray Advanced Materials.

Chairman Lee said his company can achieve its original goal of posting 5 trillion won in sales and 500 billion won in operating profit by 2020 by expanding the Gunsan plant. 

Lee hinted at the possibility of additional investments. He said his company has already announced a plan to invest 300 trillion won during the period between 2014 and 2018. He said his company has an idea of expanding the PPS business since the site has already been secured. The company chalked up 2.079 billion trillion won in sales and 129 trillion won in operating profit in 2015.

Currently, the Gunsan plant has a capacity of producing 8,600 tons of PPS. The second expansion project will bring its capacity to 19,000 tons by 2018, similar to that of Toray Industries’ plant in Tokai. 

Currently the Gunsan plant can produce 3,300 tons of compounds, said Chairman Lee, adding that his company plans to make the plant a springboard for exporting its products to China. The company plans to export 60 to 70 percent of PPS resins the Gunsan plant produces to China, he said.