LG Chem

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LG Chem Ltd.

logo
legal form Corporation
ISIN KR7051910008
founding 1947
Seat Seoul , South KoreaKorea SouthSouth Korea 
management Shin Hak Cheol ( CEO )
Number of employees 33,694 (as of December 2018)
sales 28.2 trillion Won (14.35 billion euros )
Branch Chemistry, batteries, pharmaceuticals
Website www.lgchem.com
As of December 28, 2019

LG Chem Ltd. is a South Korean chemical company of the LG Group . It belongs to the largest chemical company in South Korea. Globally, the company ranks 10th. The headquarters of the company, which was founded in 1947, is in Seoul. At the end of 2015, the company employed 25,849 people worldwide, with annual sales of 20.2 trillion. Won.

history

In 1947, two years after the end of the Japanese colonial era , the cosmetic company Lucky Chemical Industrial Corporation was founded. A few years later, the company expanded its business area to include the production of synthetic resins. In the late 1950s, Lucky Chemical Industries Co, Ltd. and shortly afterwards the company Lucky Vinyl Ltd. founded.

In 1966 the company was renamed Lucky Chemical Industries Co, Ltd. As of 1969, the company's shares were traded on the Korea Stock Exchange.

In 1974 the company was renamed Lucky Corporation. In the 1970s and 1980s, the company built several factories to manufacture plastics and an R&D center.

In 1995 the company was renamed LG Chem. Ltd. renamed. The company continued to grow through its own growth and through acquisitions (e.g. Hindustan Polymers Ltd., Hyundai Petrochemicals).

In 2001 a battery research center was established in the USA. In 2007 the company was merged with LG Petrochemicals Co., Ltd. merged. In 2011 the company was merged with LG Polycarbonate.

In 2014 the company took over the US manufacturer of reverse osmosis membranes NanoH2O . A year later the company was renamed LG Watersolutions and has since operated as a subsidiary of LG Chem.

At the beginning of 2015, LG Chem acquired the South Korean market leader in the field of fertilizer production and No. 2 in the field of seed production, Dongbu Farm Hannong . In the same year, LG Chem sold the separator factory in Ochang to the Japanese company Toray . Toray and the South Korean SK Innovation are competitors in the separator market. The market leader is the Japanese company Asahi Kasei , which was able to significantly increase its market share by taking over Polypore from the USA.

LG Chem was named Supplier of the Year 2015 by GM.

In 2016, LG Chem merged with the pharmaceutical subsidiary of the LG Life Sciences group. This step should serve to strengthen the growing biopharmaceutical business.

In 2017, the company established a production facility for carbon nanotubes in Yeosu . The annual capacity is initially 100 tons. The product is mainly required for the production of lithium-ion batteries .

Business areas

  • Petrochemicals

This division forms the main business of the company. It produces cracker products (e.g. ethylene, propylene) from naphtha , polyolefins , PVC , plasticizers , ABS , acrylic acid , superabsorbent polymer (SAP), polycarbonates , synthetic rubber and special polymers. Globally, LG Chem is the fifth largest acrylic acid and fourth largest SAP producer. The basic raw materials and chemicals division is very profitable. In the first quarter of 2016, the division generated a net profit of 338.1 billion won. Other areas are not so successful or in deficit.

  • Energy solutions

This division produces batteries for IT products, mobile household appliances, various types of electric vehicles and energy storage systems (ESS) . In 1999, LG Chem was the first South Korean company to manufacture lithium-ion batteries .

According to a study by Navigant Research , LG Chem is, alongside Panasonic and Samsung SDI, one of the three leading battery manufacturers for electric cars in terms of strategy and implementation. Through the development of patented SRS ( English stability-reinforced separator ), a very thin application of a nano ceramic layer to a polyolefin , is achieved a high thermal stability and hence durability of the batteries. In addition, the high reliability of the battery cells is achieved through the optimized construction of the battery cell (stacking and folding technology instead of rolling technology) and battery chemistry. The stacking and folding technique with subsequent lamination is usually used for the pouch cells . The roll-up technology is used for cylindrical round cells and prismatic cells. In the case of prismatic cells, the rolled-up cell unit is pressed together to form a “ jelly roll ” and housed in a cuboid housing. The pouch cell has the advantage of little dead space ; however, their production is more complex and takes longer.

According to a study, the first generation Chevy Volt , which was equipped with batteries from LG Chem, showed almost no drop in battery capacity after three years. GM manager Larry Nitz said that of the 20 million cells produced, fewer than 2 problem cases per 1 million cells would have occurred. LG Chem has already won a number of car manufacturers (GM, Hyundai, Renault, Ford, Volvo, Tesla Motors and others) as customers.

The company already produces the traction batteries at four locations: Cheongju in South Korea, Holland (Michigan) in the USA, and Nanjing in China. The construction of another factory in Kobierzyce near Wroclaw began in 2016 and was completed in 2017. Production in Poland started in 2018. The factory in Poland consists of two production buildings with a total of eight production lines: the first line is for Renault , Jaguar and Land Rover ; the second and fifth lines are for Audi , Porsche and Daimler ; the third line produces standard cells; the fourth line is for VW's MEB platform ; the 6th line is for Porsche; the 7th line for the PSA group . Since the demand for battery cells for e-cars is huge in Europe, LG Chem tried to introduce a wider production format. As a result, production was initially problematic. As of the end of 2019, the yield should only have been <80%. The production lines in South Korea have a yield of approx. 99%. That was one reason for the delay in the delivery of Audi's e-Tron . At the end of 2019, LG Chem agreed with General Motors to build a new cell production facility in Ohio on the basis of a joint venture.

In the field of solar storage, the company is very successful with the product RESU , a compact and expandable energy storage system in various capacities.

The South Korean President Moon Jae-in has been trying to reorganize his country's energy supply since he took office. The share of nuclear power generation is to be reduced and the share of renewable energy is to be increased. Many energy storage systems (ESS) have been installed in South Korea since 2017 . Although many of these ESSs were installed worldwide and there are no known problems there, the ESSs installed in South Korea broke out. A total of 23 cases were registered. An investigation team was then formed and action was taken. Nevertheless, another five fires were reported in 2019. A second investigation team was established. The affected ESS were equipped with cells from LG Chem and Samsung SDI .

  • Modern materials

The IT and electronic materials division is responsible for the production of materials for optics and electronics and LCD glass substrates. According to its own statements, LG Chem is the world market leader in the field of large-area polarizers . They are used in liquid crystal displays , which in turn are built into TVs, monitors, laptops, tablets and smartphones.

LG Chem is relatively new to the reverse osmosis membrane ( RO membrane) business. The company took over the US membrane manufacturer NanoH2O Inc. in 2014 and has been producing RO membranes for the world market since September 2015 in Cheongju / South Korea. Around 40,000 RO filter units have already been produced there and exported to 19 countries. The company is planning a second production line. The three market leaders Nitto Denko (Japan), Toray (Japan), and Dow Chemical (USA) share 80% of the world market among themselves. RO membranes are primarily required for the purification of industrial water and domestic waste water as well as for obtaining drinking water from seawater.

This division also produces organic materials for OLEDs . They serve as a display unit in TVs, OLED lamps and smartphones. It also produces electrode material for the batteries.

  • Life sciences

Like the other South Korean conglomerates such as the Samsung Group (Samsung Biologics, Samsung Bioepis), the SK Group (SK biotek, SK biopharmaceuticals) and newcomers such as Celltrion, LG Chem is trying to participate in the rapidly growing bio-pharmaceuticals business.

Web links

Commons : LG Chem  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ https://www.lgchem.com/company/company-information/about
  2. ↑ LG Chem overview. LG Chem, accessed December 28, 2019 .
  3. ↑ Global Top 50 Chemical Companies. Chemical & Engineering News, accessed December 27, 2019 .
  4. ↑ a b Overview. LG Chem, accessed on May 31, 2016 .
  5. ^ History. LG Chem, accessed on May 31, 2016 .
  6. ^ LG Chemical Takes Over Hyundai Petrochemical , November 23, 2000
  7. ↑ Tom Freyberg: LG Water Solutions rebranding to lose NanoH2O from name. WaterWorld Magazine, August 24, 2015, accessed June 19, 2016 .
  8. ↑ Choi Sung-jin: LG Chem takes over nation's largest agro-material processor. The Korea Times, January 9, 2016, accessed June 19, 2016 .
  9. ↑ Japan's Toray to buy battery material plant from LG Chem. Nikkei Asian Review, September 16, 2015, accessed June 21, 2016 .
  10. ↑ James Ayre: LG Chem Named As A 2015 GM Supplier Of The Year. CleanTechnica, March 15, 2016, accessed on May 31, 2016 .
  11. ↑ Kim Jee-hee: LG Chem merges with LG Life Sciences to focus on bio. Korea JoongAng Daily, September 13, 2016, accessed February 10, 2017 .
  12. ↑ Shin Ji-hye: LG Chem to up production of carbon nanotubes. The Korean Herald, January 31, 2017, accessed February 10, 2017 .
  13. ↑ Jung Min-hee: LG Chem Expands Acrylic Acid and SAP Production Facilities. Business Korea, August 20, 2015, accessed May 31, 2016 .
  14. ↑ Kim Young-won: LG Chem's Q1 net profit rises nearly 40% on-year. Korean Herald, April 21, 2016, accessed May 31, 2016 .
  15. ^ LG Chem, Panasonic, and Samsung SDI Score Highest in Assessment of Lithium Ion Battery Manufacturers, According to Navigant Research. Business Wire, December 3, 2015, accessed May 20, 2016 .
  16. ↑ 배터리 내부 밀도 를 높이는 기술: Stack on YouTube , January 13, 2020, accessed January 13, 2020.
  17. ↑ 최후 의 배터리, 파우치 vs 각형 캔 on YouTube , January 24, 2020, accessed January 24, 2020.
  18. ↑ James Ayre: Chevy Volt Batteries Almost 100% Problem-Free. Gas2, October 14, 2015, accessed May 31, 2016 .
  19. ↑ Jung Wook: LG Chem starts building its fourth EV battery plant in Poland. Pulsenews, October 6, 2016, accessed October 6, 2016 .
  20. ↑ 골칫 덩이 LG 화학 폴란드 배터리 공장 정상화 는 언제? on YouTube , December 25, 2019, accessed December 26, 2019.
  21. ↑ Michale Wayland: GM, LG Chem to create $ 2.3 billion battery cell venture for electric vehicles, to create 1,100 jobs in Ohio. CNBC, December 5, 2019, accessed May 27, 2019 .
  22. ^ Max Hall: LG Chem steals a march on Tesla. PV Magazine, July 24, 2015, accessed May 31, 2016 .
  23. ↑ Michael Herh: Investigation Committee Says Defective Batteries Are to Blame for ESS Fires. Business Korea, January 20, 2020, accessed January 22, 2020 .
  24. ↑ ESS 화재 사고 를 알아 봅시다 on YouTube , January 21, 2020, accessed on January 22, 2020.
  25. ↑ Chung Wook: LG Chem wins a large-scale desalination filter order in Oman. Pulsenews, June 16, 2016, accessed June 16, 2016 .
  26. ↑ Tesla Motors is negotiating batteries with LG Chem, Samsung and SK Innovation. IT Times, May 18, 2016, accessed May 31, 2016 .