SKC to increase PET production by 2015



- Double PET film production capacity by 2015

- Preempt the future market by reinforcing R&D for eco-friendly PET films and their new uses

- Expand the share of the global market for display, solar cell, and eco-friendly specialty packaging films

- Establish global production and marketing systems



SKC has announced the company’s mid-term plan to establish a PET film production capacity of 300,000 tons by 2015 to gain the upper hand in the future market. Based on more than 17 percent growth per annum in PET film, SKC’s flagship product, and the continuous development of new uses for this product stemming from its superb properties, SKC is to strengthen its competitiveness in the future market by bolstering its market dominance through aggressive expansion of its PET film production lines and expanding its R&D for eco-friendly PET films and their new uses.

SKC CEO Park Jang-suk said the company will make significant investments in the film business over the next five years, adding that PET films, which have evolved in accordance with industrial development, constitute not only an essential material for the development of the display and solar energy industries but are also an eco-friendly and green material with huge potential for growth



To establish a 300,000-ton production capacity



To establish a 300,000-ton production capacity or add 160,000 tons to the existing capacity, eight production lines will be built in SKC’s Jincheon plant and overseas production _ base_s in China and Southeast Asian countries. A PET film production line for display devices to be built by year’s end will upgrade the quality of the product for display devices. As the facility design for two of the production lines to be built next year has already been completed and as the investment plan for them will soon be submitted to the company’s board of directors, their construction is expected to be completed next year. On top of this, two lines will be added by 2012 and three lines by 2015, generating an additional 160,000 tons of PET film production from the eight new production lines and completing the 300,000-ton production capacity.




To gain the upper hand in the future market by expanding R&D to develop eco-friendly PET films and new uses for them



SKC plans to carve out high added value and new business areas to sharpen its technological edge and preempt the future market for special uses by strengthening its R&D capacity to develop new materials in the eco-friendly and new and renewable energy sectors. It will also develop new kinds of film products _ base_d on new polymer resins along with developing new uses for PET film.



By grafting PET film’s electrical, optical and mechanical characteristics onto new technologies, such as nano deposition and high barrier systems, the company will develop new applications, such as films for flexible display devices, LCD reflectors and l replacements. Building on its PET film production technology, SKC also aims to secure the leading technological prowess in the future material market by accelerating the development of new material films in the same way it developed EVA sheets for solar cells and fluorine films and by speeding up the development of film products made of new materials, including eco-friendly materials, such as high-functional bio-degradable films and green polymer films produced using captured carbon dioxide.



Expand the market share for displays, solar cells and eco-friendly special packaging films



SKC ranks top in the share of the global market for displays, solar cells, and eco-friendly special package films. To expand their production and enhance quality, productivity and production cost competitiveness, SKC will establish specialized production lines to bring about a production system in which each product has its own dedicated production line. Though these efforts, the company will achieve world-class competitiveness in quality and productivity and further increase its global market share in displays, solar cells, and eco-friendly special packaging films.



To pursue customer satisfaction through an optimized global production and marketing system


The PET film business is a materials industry and major factors in the competitiveness of the former are technological trends in the finished goods industry to which PET film is supplied and optimization of materials in the manufacturing processes of finished goods. With SKC’s display films occupying more than 50 percent of the global market, the company has faced no major obstacles to the production and sale of the product. With the Chinese market rapidly growing, the solar cell market dominated by the U.S., China, and Europe, and countries around the world tightening their environment-related regulations, SKC will devise and implement global strategies that are customized to region and represent the solutions that best cater to the needs of customers.



Building on the capacity and expertise accumulated through the operation of its U.S.-_ base_d plants over the past decade, SKC will expand production and marketing for solar cells and eco-friendly special packaging films in the North American and European markets. For the Chinese and Southeast Asian markets, SKC will implement a strategy for market entry in line with the growth rate of the solar cell and display markets. Notably, SKC expects its new mid-term plan to lay the groundwork for the company to compete against the global major p s, including those in Japan, and emerge as the world’s No. 1 film maker.