50-Billion Dollar Revenue by 2030 LG Chem to Expand Eco-Friendly Materials, Battery Materials, and New Drugs Businesses

LG Chem is aiming to achieve 50.1 billion dollars in revenue by 2030 by expanding its high-value new businesses of eco-friendly materials, battery materials, and new drugs by more than half. With this, the firm intends to reset itself as a global sustainable science company.

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Seoul/South Korea – LG Chem has recently announced its blue ocean shift strategy to post 50.1 billion dollars in revenue, which is more than double of the current, by 2030, while increasing the proportion of eco-friendly high-value new businesses by more than half of the total. The 50.1 billion dollars revenue goal set for 2030 is a number planned only with direct businesses of LG Chem excluding revenue from its subsidiary, LG Energy Solution.

Chief Executive Officer Hak Cheol Shin stated in an investor seminar held live online that revenue will grow from 22 billion dollars in 2021 to 50.1 billion dollars by 2030, which is more than a 130 % increase. He also announced plans to raise revenue of the company’s three major new businesses in eco-friendly materials, battery materials, and new drugs by more than 10-fold to 25 billion dollars.

Investments in R&D related to this will also be accelerated. It also plans to hire more than 500 employees in R&D this year to procure about 3,300 employees.

Chief Executive Officer Shin stated, “LG Chem has diversified its business portfolio ranging from the battery business to advanced materials and bio businesses including IT materials and battery materials depending on the flow of industries and achieved revenue growth of more than 10 times over the past 20 years.”

He added, “The Great Reset of the industry prompted by the current climate crisis, digital transformation, and post-pandemic era will also serve as a great opportunity for LG Chem’s leap into the ‘Top Global Science Company.’”

Plans are to increase revenue of eco-friendly sustainability businesses focusing on recycled, biodegradable and bio, renewable energy (energy transition) materials businesses by more than six times by ‘30, while leading the global chemical industry that is rapidly converting to the low-carbon economy.

In order to pioneer the recycled plastic market that has exhibited explosive growth mainly led by global IT companies, LG Chem is concentrating on procuring recycled raw materials, improving plastic properties, and early commercialization of chemical recycling.

South Korea: Sustainable Solutions

LG Chem Announces World’s First Biodegradable Material

It is pursuing technological commercialization with Mura of the United Kingdom as it targets the chemical recycling market, and it has also set its goal for constructing the nation’s first supercritical pyrolysis oil plant with annual production of 20,000 tons by 2024.

Biodegradable and bio material plastics can radically decrease carbon emissions, while also solving plastic waste issues, and therefore, it is expected that demand will grow by more than 20 % annually.

The first shipment of super absorbent polymers (SAP) applying plant-derived bio materials such as waste cooking oil was made in August of last year, and plans are in place to construct a 75,000-ton PLA (Poly Lactic Acid; biodegradable bio plastic) plant in the US by 2025 through a joint venture with ADM, an American grain company, to begin integrated mass production ranging from raw materials to final products.

For the biodegradable resin, PBAT (Poly Butylene Adipate-co-Terephthalate), which decomposes quickly in nature, a plant with an annual yield of 50,000 tons is being constructed slated for commercial production in 2024. PLH, a new biodegradable material that was developed for the first time in the world, is being scaled-up for commercialization.

LG Chem plans to increase revenue of its battery materials business by 12 folds, while fostering it as a highly profitable business that creates double-digit operating profits. Once the growth of its subsidiary LG Energy Solution and procurement of external clients are attained, it is expected that the revenue goal will become even higher.

LG Chem is planning to put the cathode material business in full-swing based on its metal sourcing competitiveness and technologies that it accumulated over long periods such as the mass production of NCM (nickel, cobalt, manganese) cathode materials for the first time in the world back in 2006.

The company also plans to expand the proportion of high-nickel products, containing more than 80 % of nickel, to 90 % by 2026. The Company also possesses the world’s highest productivity in the calcination, which is the core of the cathode material process. Plans are to expand partners to global companies, in addition to the existing Chinese mining companies, to ensure stably supply of metals.

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Aside from cathode materials and separators, LG Chem will also actively foster additional battery materials such as CNT (Carbon Nano Tubes), thermal adhesives, anode binders, and BAS (Battery Assembly Solution). Especially in the case of the CNT business, plans are to increase its current 1,700-ton production capacity by more than five times by 2026 to raise its market share. Efforts to develop battery material technologies for improving battery performance and safety will also be accelerated.

Next-generation battery technologies such as solid battery materials, etc. are also under development, and reviews are being made while being open to various external opportunities as well.

LG Chem plans to become reborn as a global pharmaceutical company possessing innovative new drugs by concentrating on anti-cancer, diabetes and metabolism. LG Chem currently has 10 new global innovative drug pipelines in clinical stage 1 or higher stages, and it aims at procuring a total of 23 clinical stage pipelines by 2023 through the acceleration of R&D by applying AI, etc.

In order to continue its sustainable growth into a global science company, LG Chem decided to fast-forward its past 2050 carbon neutrality growth goal by 20 years, and achieve net-zero by 2050.

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