SKC has successfully developed the elastic pad for installation on express trains running between Wonju and Gangneung, replacing imported pads.
Aims to tap into overseas train markets including China with 30% share of global market by 2020
Addition of elastic pad to product portfolio, following recently developed jounce bumper for automobiles, is expected to provide further boost to company’s high value-added elastomer business



SKC announced on October 22, 2015 that it had signed a contract to supply elastic pads, a core component of the Korean rail-fastening system, which will be installed on the newly launched express trains that run between Wonju and Gangneung. The elastic pad is a high-performance elastomer polyurethane product installed on the rail fastening system that fixes the rails so as to absorb shocks and vibrations generated during operation. Korea depended entirely upon imported elastic pads until SKC’s many years of R&D efforts resulted in the first successful domestic production of an elastic pad for trains.



First Success Case under the Guidance of the Front and Back Industrial Cooperation Committee of the MOTIE



SKC’s domestic production of elastic pads is the first success case under the auspices of the Front and Back Industrial Cooperation Committee of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE). Domestic companies that need the pads and parts and materials manufacturers worked together to jointly develop the pad, significantly reducing costs and laying the foundations for Korean parts and materials producers to make inroads into the global market. SKC plans to join hands with other Korean companies that manufacture parts and materials to form ‘One Team Korea’ and take this opportunity to establish its presence in the global market by playing a role in the global expansion drive of the Korean train industry, which is being led by the Ministry of Land and Transportation. In addition to the elastic pad for express trains, SCK has also successfully developed a rail pad for regular trains, subway trains and trams, which is being tested on the Jeolla Line and in Daegu subway trains. SKC will finish the test operations within 2015 and plans to supply the pad on a regular basis from 2016.



Tapping into Global Train Market with a Target Share of 30% by 2020

Jeong Gi-bong, CEO of SKC, said that the commercial production of the elastic pad for trains represented “a step forward in the company’s polyurethane technology”, adding, “SKC plans to engage in an active global marketing campaign with the focus on markets with an emerging demand for trains, including China, Vietnam, and Mongolia, and to capture a 30% share of the global market by 2020. Given the size of the global train market, which is worth around 400 billion won, SKC is currently working to acquire quality certifications in order to enter major global markets including China, which currently accounts for over 50% of the global train market, Japan and other emerging markets, as well as concentrating its resources and efforts on forcing its way into the global market by aggressively carrying out marketing activities targeting potential overseas clients.



Expansion of high-value added specialty materials, a key to expediting its transformation into a global p



SKC is stepping up its efforts in the area of specialty materials. Following the launch of its jounce bumper, an elastomer product for automobiles, last year, the contract it has landed to supply elastic pads for trains is expected to add further momentum to the company’s elastomer materials business. Elastomer, for which SKC possesses the source technology, is widely applicable to other areas and thus has great potential for new product developments and market growth. Furthermore, SKC is also expanding its semiconductor chemicals sector and, as part of that effort, it partnered with other Korean companies to enter the Chinese market in August. Recently, SKC released its plan to produce CMP pads, taking advantage of its existing polyurethane business to maximize synergistic effects in order to steadily expand its materials business. SKC will also remain focused on expanding its specialty materials business, and plans to raise the proportion of sales held by specialty materials from 13% at present to 31% by 2018. [The end]