Chairman Lee Young-kwan of Toray Advanced Materials Korea joins in a “children’s traffic safety relay challenge” drive, designed to put into practice traffic safety within children safety zones on March 4. (Photo: Toray Advanced Materials Korea)

Toray Advanced Materials Korea supplies essential materials to various industries ranging from fiber, film and basic materials in IT to high-value-added special materials.

The company held a ceremony to mark its first business day of 2021, announcing the start of a “hopeful” new year on Jan. 4.

In consideration of social distancing to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus, the ceremony was held in the International Conference Room of Gumi Plant 4 with the attendance of a limited number of people from the headquarters and each business site. The event was live streamed online.

“In spite of numerous internal and external crises and uncertainties predicted in 2021, let’s make the year of 2021 a ‘year to boost profitability and prepare for future growth’ through continuous innovation,” said Jeon Hae-sang, CEO of Toray Advanced Materials Korea in his New Year's message. The year of 2021 is the second year of Vision 2030.

Jeon’s message was followed by new year messages by vice president Lim Hee-seok, vice chairman Kataoka Tomohiko, and chairman Lee Young-kwan.

Vice president Lim mentioned the environment and safety as key words of management for 2021. “We cannot achieve our goals for 2021 without achieving safety at work,” Lim said, emphasizing the importance of industrial safety.

“We should move forward with Vision 2030 as a common goal while accurately understanding the current situation,” Kataoka said, asking employees of Toray Advanced Materials Korea to take on their tasks while keeping in mind how to contribute to the growth of the company at their workplaces.

Finally, chairman Lee emphasized that all members of Toray Advanced Materials Korea should pursue the best quality, practice self-control and develop creativity in R&D activities and work with strong enterprising spirit and will for the development of carbon fibers among others.

“Let’s march toward our goal to make Toray Advanced Materials Korea a world-class company,” Lee stressed.

Toray Advanced Materials Korea is planning to actively enter five major business areas, including materials for next-generation displays and new mobility and eco-friendly materials, in order to accomplish Vision 2030 and cope with changes in the global business environment.

“PP Spunbond Meltblown Spunbond (SMS) Nonwovens” against static electricity produced by Toray Advanced Materials Korea has been selected as one of the 2020 World-Best Products by the Korean government.

The World Best Product Program gives Korean government certificates to Korean products with global competitiveness to ramp up exports.

Toray Advanced Materials Korea applied anti-static electricity technology of its own development to PP SMS Nonwovens so PP SMS Nonwovens have an anti-static electricity function without the help of melt blown (MB) nonwovens.

Face masks made of PP SMS Nonwovens are lighter than other face masks with a three-story structure (an external skin, anti-static electricity MB nonwovens, and an inner skin) but show the same performance.

The development of the innovative technology increased face mask production five-fold, contributing to the stabilization of face mask supply, analysts say.

A shortage of masks had been sparked by the spread of the COVID-19 virus.

Currently, Toray Advanced Materials Korea is able to manufacture KF-AD face masks with one layer of static SMS nonwovens and KF-80 face masks with two layers of them.

The company will steadily make efforts for public health and safety by improving performance through continuous research and development.

Social Contribution Activities

Chairman Lee Young-kwan participated in the Children’s Traffic Safety Relay Challenge to establish a culture of traffic safety in child protection zones in early March.

This campaign has been running since December 2020 as a way to increase social interest in children’s traffic safety and build a national consensus.

In addition, Toray Advanced Materials Korea recently donated 10 million won as part of the Love & Happiness Sharing campaign hosted by the Gyeongsangbuk-do government to boost people’s morale and improve their livelihoods.

“Hopefully, this can be a small consolation for the inhabitants and the community suffering from the COVID-19 crisis,” said Lee, who has resolved to do his best to help the community overcome the difficulties within the region.