Tapping Emerging Markets
SKC announced that that Mitsui Chemicals & SKC Polyurethanes Inc. (MCNS), a joint venture of the two companies, started operations on July 1.
The MCNS is equally owned by both companies with a 50 percent stake each, and SKC will have a co-chairman. The company has US$1.1 billion (1.23 trillion won) of assets and is headquartered in Seoul.
The joint venture has integrated SKC’s polyol and system products and Mitsui Chemicals’ polyol, MDI, TDI, and system products to produce a total of 720,000 tons – 280,000 tons of polyol, 200,000 tons of MDI, 120,000 tons of TDI, and 120,000 tons of system products. It will operate 15 production bases in nine countries.
SKC President Jeong Gi-bong said, “With volatility and uncertainty increasingly being expanded in the global chemical industry, we have promoted a joint-venture company for structural change and innovation, including a business portfolio. We will make every effort to help the company become the top tier in the global polyurethane market.”
The joint venture plans to expand the ratio of high value-added products and specialty products by strengthening R&D in the future, and boost its sales to 2 trillion won (US$1.78 billion) by 2020 by tapping into emerging markets, including Mexico.