LG Chem

LG Chem
Public (traded on the Korea Stock Exchange)
Traded as KRX: 051910, KRX: 051915
Industry Chemicals
Founded

1947, 1966 as Lakhui Chemical Industries 1974 as Lucky Corp 1995 as LG Chem

(Reincorporated in 2001)
Headquarters Seoul, South Korea
Products Raw materials, chemicals, IT and electronics materials, energy solutions
Revenue Increase US$ 20.4 billion (2012)[1]
Increase US$ 1.9 billion (2010)[1]
Number of employees
 20,000+ (2015)
Parent LG Corporation
Website lgchem.com

LG Chem Ltd. (Korean: LG화학), often referred to as LG Chemical, is the largest Korean chemical company[1] and is headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. According to Chemical and Engineering News, it was the 13th largest chemical company in the world by sales in 2014.[2] It was first established as the Lucky Chemical Industrial Corporation, which manufactured cosmetics. It is now solely a business-to-business company.

In order to create a holding company, the "old" LG Chem (the legal predecessor of LG Corp) was split off, creating the "new" LG Chem and LG Care. The "old" LG Chem changed its name to LG CI l. After its merger with LG EI (the legal successor of Goldstar) in 2003, it changed its name to LG Corp.

The company has eight factories in South Korea and a network of 29 business locations in 15 countries. This network includes a holding company in China, 14 overseas manufacturing subsidiaries, five marketing subsidiaries, seven representative offices, and two R&D centers. LG Chem has three main business areas:

Basic materials and chemicals

LG Chem is a supplier of petrochemicals ranging from basic distillates to specialty polymers. For example, it is a large producer of common plastics such as acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS),[3] styrene-acrylonitrile resin (SAN),[4] and polyvinyl chloride (PVC).[5] It also produces raw materials and liquids, including plasticizers, specialty additives, alcohols, polyolefins, acrylic acid, synthetic rubber, styrenics, performance polymers, engineering plastics, elastomers, conductive resins, and other chemicals.

Information technology and electronics materials

LG Chem supplies display and optical films, printed circuit materials, and toners. It also supplies LCD polarizers, which are multi-layer sheets of film applied to the top and bottom surfaces of TFT-LCD panels to transmit the light from the backlight unit through the panel, and 3D FPR (film-type patterned retarder) film, which enables three-dimensional viewing.

Energy solutions

LG Chem completed development and began mass production of Korea’s first lithium-ion batteries back in 1999. At the end of 2011, LG Chem was the world’s third-largest maker with an annual production capacity of 1,000 million cells. It is also a supplier of automotive battery for electric vehicles.

LG Chem Michigan is a wholly owned subsidiary of LG Chem based in Holland, Michigan[6] which operates a plant to manufacture advanced battery cells for electric vehicles in Holland, Michigan. The US$303 million Holland plant received 50% of its funding from U.S. Department of Energy matching stimulus funds,[7] and started manufacturing battery systems in 2013.[8] The plant can produce enough cells per year to build between 50,000 and 200,000 battery packs for electric cars and hybrids such as the Chevrolet Volt by General Motors,[9][10][11][12][13] the Ford Focus Electric, and upcoming plug-in electric vehicles from other carmakers.[14] Its research and development arm, called LG Chem Power, is based in nearby Troy, Michigan.[15] LG Chem Power and LG Chem Michigan were originally one company called Compact Power, Inc.[16]

Chevrolet Volt, known as the Opel Ampera in Europe

Both the Chevrolet Volt and the Ford Focus Electric initially used cells manufactured in Korea by parent LG Chem[17][18] and then later switched to cells produced in LG Chem Michigan's Holland plant once it opened.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "LG Chem Ltd". InsideView. Retrieved January 10, 2015.
  2. ↑ "C&EN Global Top 50". Chemical and Engineering News. American Chemical Society. Retrieved January 10, 2015.
  3. ↑ Maxey, Kyle (January 31, 2014). "LG Chem to Supply ABS to Stratasys". Engineering.com. Retrieved January 10, 2015.
  4. ↑ "ABS/SAN". LG Chem. Retrieved January 10, 2015.
  5. ↑ "PVC". LG Chem. Retrieved January 10, 2015.
  6. ↑ "LG Chem — Overseas Sites — Americas — Manufacturing Plants". LG Chem. Retrieved January 10, 2015.
  7. ↑ "LG Chem to establish new electrolyte production plant in Michigan". Green Car Congress. 2010-11-07. Retrieved 2011-05-19.
  8. ↑ Harger, Jim (November 21, 2013). "Behind the scenes at LG Chem's advanced battery plant in Holland: It's cleaner than clean". MLive. MLive Media Group. Retrieved January 10, 2015.
  9. ↑ Kim, Soyoung (2008-10-22). "LG Chem to supply GM Volt batteries — sources". Reuters. Retrieved 2009-08-11.
  10. ↑ "BREAKING: LG Chem and Compact Power Inc. to Supply Volt Battery Packs". GM-Volt.com. 2008-10-22. Retrieved 2009-08-11.
  11. ↑ Johnson, Drew (2008-10-24). "GM inks Chevrolet Volt battery contract". Leftlane. Retrieved 2009-08-11.
  12. ↑ Compact Power Inc press release (2008-06-05). "Compact Power, Inc. Wins Lithium-Ion Battery Development Program For General Motors Hybrid Electric Vehicles" (PDF). Retrieved 2008-06-08.
  13. ↑ Voelcker, John (August 2008). "Battery Czar". IEEE Spectrum. pp. 32–37.
  14. ↑ "LG Chem Wins GM Supplier of the Year Award". Electric Cars Report. 2011-03-17. Retrieved 2011-05-19.
  15. ↑ "LG Chem — Overseas Sites — Americas — R&D Centers". LG Chem. Retrieved January 10, 2015.
  16. ↑ "Separate Financial Statements, December 31, 2010 and 2009" (PDF). LG Chem, Ltd. p. 19. Retrieved January 10, 2015.
  17. ↑ "GM Chooses LG Chem to Supply Chevy Volt's Lithium-ion Batteries and Will Build the Packs Themselves". GM-Volt.com. January 12, 2009.
  18. ↑ "Ford Selects Compact Power as Lithium-Ion Battery Pack Supplier for Ford Focus Electric on Sale in 2011" (Press release). Ford Motor Company. 2010-07-13. Retrieved February 2, 2012.
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