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| Home > About LG Chem > Business Areas > Petrochemicals |
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| We support our customers in their quest for success by being a reliable source for chemicals and polymers. |
At LG Chem, we are a major global supplier of quality petrochemicals ranging from basic distillates to specialty polymers. Our extensive experience and advanced technology are enabling us consistently break new ground in the industry with highperformance products.
Our mergers with LG Daesan Petrochemicals in 2006 and LG Petrochemical in 2007 have given us a vertically integrated production system that continues to enhance the synergy of our operations. At the same time, our recently expanded ABS plant in China has solidified our position as the global ABS industry leader, while our new styrene-butadiene latex (SBL) plant there is now playing a key role in expanding the weighting of specialty product grades in our portfolio.
Today, we continue to systematically lay the foundation for future growth. At home, we are steadily expanding the capacity of our Daesan naphtha cracking center. In China, we are growing our PVC business as we enter the specialty polymers business. In the longer term, our increasing vertical integration will enhance our revenue base as we focus on upgrading and streamlining our business operations and selectively developing innovative new products that will improve our bottom line. |
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| Our mergers with LG Daesan Petrochemicals in 2006 and LG Petrochemical in 2007 have enabled us to achieve full vertical integration in the PVC and ABS businesses. Our naphtha cracking centers (NCC) in Yeosu and Daesan thermally “crack” or break down naphtha into feedstocks such as ethylene, propylene, mixed C4s, and pyrolysis gasoline that we sell worldwide for use in a wide range of downstream products such as polyolefins (PO), bisphenol A (BPA), ABS, PVC, octanol, acrylic acid (AA), synthetic rubbers (SBR/BR), styrene monomer (SM), and ethylene glycol (EG). Polyolefins are polymers such as polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), both plastic resins known for outstanding workability. They are used to make electric wire insulation, films, pipes, and a wide range of injection-molded products. The quality of our PO products is recognized worldwide. |
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| SYNTHETIC RUBBERS & SPECIALTY POLYMERS |
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We produce a broad lineup of synthetic rubbers and specialty polymers using Butadiene (BD), SM and Benzen as our primary feedstocks. Our styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR) and butadiene rubber (BR) products are used in tires, shoe soles, and high-impact polystyrene (HIPS), while our acrylonitrile butadiene rubber (NBR) is used for shoe soles, gaskets, and hoses.
In the specialty polymers field, we produce methyl methacry latebutadiene-styrene (MBS) impact modifiers for PVC products, styrene-butadiene-styrene (SBS) with rubber-like elasticity that is ideal for asphalt and waterproof sheets, adhesives, and shoe soles as well as a plastic modifier, SB Latex, raw material for paper coating, NBR Latex for Nitrile Gloves, and BPA for polycarbonate and epoxy resins. |
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| Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) is widely used in pipes, flexible and rigid sheets, window profiles, and floorcoverings. Our PVC lineup includes straight, paste, and specialty resins. Continuous expansion and debottlenecking of our PVC plants in Korea and China has made us one of the world’s largest producers. Our vinyl chloride monomer (VCM) and ethylene dichloride (EDC) plants that came online in China in 2007 have further enhanced our cost competitiveness. |
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Acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) resins are produced with SM feedstock and are extensively used in electric and electronic devices, auto parts, industrial materials, and everyday plastics. Our recently expanded China plant has increased our annual production capacity to 1.2 million tons, making us the global industry leader in both scale and market share.
Engineering plastics (EP) resins are used in applications such as electric and electronic components, auto parts, and conductive materials. We can produce 200,000 tons of EP resins annually. Our high-performance resins have outstanding mechanical and thermal properties that make them ideal structural materials and suitable alternatives for metals and thermoset resins. |
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Acrylic acid and esters are widely used as feedstocks to make super-absorbent polymers, textiles, paints, adhesives, and impact modifiers due to their superior reactivity. We produce isopropyl alcohol (IPA), a solvent used in paints and inks, and high-purity IPA for cleaning semiconductor wafers and LCDs. We have also developed neopentyl glycol (NPG) for use in saturated, unsaturated, and urethane resins as well as water-soluble polycarboxylic copolymers for use in high-performance concrete admixtures and pressure sensitive adhesives (PSA) designed for display films. In 2008, we have acquired the superabsorbent polymer (SAP) business to integrate the SAP business with existing acrylic monomers business.
Plasticizers are added to resins and polymers to improve their workability and physical properties. We currently produce commodity and specialty plasticizers. Our eco-friendly glycol-based plasticizer-an industry first-has established us as one of the industry’s most innovative makers. |
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 Major Product Categories |
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| Our Yeosu and Daesan NCCs thermally crack naphtha to produce ethylene, propylene, butadiene, benzene, and other basic feedstocks. Our 2006~2007 center expansion projects increased ethylene production capacity to 1,660,000 tons and propylene capacity to 960,000tons. |
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| RUBBERS/SPECIALTY POLYMERS |
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| Our primary synthetic rubber products are SBR and BR, both commonly used in tires and shoe soles. They are known for their excellent abrasion resistance, tackiness processability, rebound, and low-temperature properties. SBS is a specialty polymer used primarily as an asphalt modifier to improve elasticity, impact resistance, and durability. |
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| We produce PVC straight, paste, and specialty resins for use in pipes, flexible and rigid sheets, window profiles, floorcoverings, and many other products. We also produce the non-toxic PVC resin for food and beverage packaging. |
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| These thermoplastic resins are used in electric and electronic components, auto parts, industrial materials, and a wide variety of everyday plastic products. Our plants in Korea and China have a combined capacity of 1.06 million tons, making us the global market leader in the transparent and heat-resistant ABS market segments. |
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| Acrylates get their excellent chemical reactivity from the double bond and functional group of their molecular structure. Their many applications include highly absorbent resins, textiles, paints, adhesives, and impact modifiers. |
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Company Introduction
Overview 
