V. Chairman Park Jin-soo of LG Chem.

LG Chem has been working on the projects to find new growth engines although the company already has a number of key industrial areas to keep itself going including basic materials, batteries, information electronics materials and bio tech to make it will be able to create new customer values segregated from others in the forthcoming age of 4th Industrial Revolution.
The company is slated to plunk down 3.8 trillion won in the projects geared to find new growth engines in the years ahead, up 52 percent from 2.5 trillion won invested up until 2017, in line with the company’s plan to double up the competitive power of the existing businesses at the same time to seek new growth engines through strengthened R&D activities by 2025 to rank among the top five chemical companies in the world
LG Chem is concentrating its capabilities on the nurturing of core businesses, including basic materials, batteries, IT/electronics materials and life science. The company aims at becoming a “global top five” chemical company by advancing its business portfolio.
The Basic Materials & Chemicals Business Division targets raising annual production capacity of elastomer, a value-added synthetic resin, to 290,000 ton. LG Chem has secured a proprietary metallocene catalyst and process technology. The company is rated as having global top-class product competitiveness by establishing a vertical integration regime ranging from basic materials to catalyst and finished products.
The battery business division plans to maintain a competitive edge in terms of price, function and safety by focusing on R&D. The division has a strategy to retain the No. 1 position in a race to win a project to produce a G3 electric car that can drive 500 km per charge.
In an effort to solidify the No. 1 position in the global polarizer market, LG Chem plans to increase production in China, which grows with an annual average growth rate of more than 30 percent. Ever since LG Chem became the first company to commercialize LCD polarizers in 2000, the business division has steadily grown through aggressive investment in R&D and the development of differentiated products. As a leading global company in the polarizer market, LG Chem has also been strengthening global competitiveness in the areas of ITO Film, touch panels and circuit board materials.
The Life Sciences Business Division plans to nurture Zemiglo, Korea’s first new drug to treat diabetes, into a leading product. The division plans to accelerate efforts to develop new drugs to become the nation’s leader in the metabolic disorder and bio medicine segments.
In addition, its life science unit is focusing its research on diabetes-related diseases and immunity and treatments for cancer. The company will accelerate development based on its experience in developing the anti-diabetic drug Zemiglo. It also wants to explore overseas markets. It plans to advance the release of such drugs as diplococcus pneumoniae and LDVD, a mixed vaccine for the prevention of diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, hepatitis B, Haemophilus Influenzae type b (Hib), and poliomyelitis by conducting their clinical tests in Korea and abroad.
LG Chem plans to secure growth engines in its mainstay businesses through advance investments, a company official said.
In order to become a “sustainable growth company,” LG Chem is ramping up future R&D investments to nurture energy, water and bio sectors the company has set as its mid- and long-term new growth engines
In the area of electronic information materials, the company has been consistently expanding Polaroid production in China to solidify its position as the world's No.1 Polaroid manufacture.
LG Chem will also look to projects involving water treatment and functional films. In June last year, the firm signed a deal to supply exclusively RO water filters for a 300,000-ton seawater desalination facility in Egypt.
The company said it will produce the world-level RO filters for home use and will pioneer new markets in China and India.

Research staff at LG Chem’s Daesan Plant in South Chungcheong Province, are seen working on the development of new materials.(Photos: LG Chem)