Promoting a Carbon Fiber Plant in Saudi Arabia
Hyosung Corp. will work with Saudi Aramco, the world's largest comprehensive petrochemical company, to strengthen cooperation in the carbon fiber field, including construction of a plant in Saudi Arabia.
Hyosung announced on June 27 that its chairman Cho Hyun-joon has signed an MOU with Saudi Aramc CEO Amin Nasser at the Conrad Hotel in Yeouido, Seoul on June 25.
Under the MOU, Hyosung and Aramco will cooperate in the development and application of carbon fiber production technology and will actively review ways to construct or expand carbon fiber plants in Saudi Arabia and Korea in the future. If a plant is constructed in Saudi Arabia, it will become Hyosung's first overseas carbon fiber production plant.
Carbon fiber is one-fourth the weight of iron but 10 times stronger. In 2011, Hyosung became the first Korean company to develop carbon fiber on its own. The company has been operating a carbon fiber plant with an annual capacity of 2,000 tons in Jeonju, North Jeolla Province, since 2013. In February, the company started constructing a new carbon fiber plant with an annual capacity of 2,000 tons in the Jeonju plant site.
The company explained that carbon fiber is a key material for hydrogen fuel tanks that must withstand high pressures several hundred times higher than regular air.
In addition, the two companies agreed to strengthen mutual cooperation in the fields of chemistry, such as polyketone and dehydrogenated polypropylene (PPDH), which are new high-tech materials developed by Hyosung, as well as in the fields of electricity, such as energy storage systems (ESS) and transmission and distribution grid.
In March, Cho signed a comprehensive MOU with Aramco to collaborate in chemical, advanced materials and hydrogen related businesses. Prior to the agreement, Aramco executives, including senior vice president Ahmed Alsadi, visited the Jeonju carbon fiber plant and expressed trust in Hyosung’s exceptional technology power.