SKC (President Park Jang-seok) held a groundbreaking ceremony to launch the construction of a polyurethane system house plant at SKC’s U.S. production complex (SKC Inc.) in Covington City, Georgia on September 25. The ceremony was attended by more than 100 people, including Chairman Chey Shin-won and President Park Jang-seok of SKC, a U.S. Senator from the state of Georgia, and the mayor of Covington.

The polyurethane system house plant produces the main ingredients of polyurethane, which is used in automobile seats, as well as in construction work and freezers as an insulator. The new system house, whose construction kicked off on the same day, will have an annual production capacity of 20,000 tons when it begins churning out polyurethane system products next June.


SKC’s business strategy for U.S. system house

SKC plans to supply economical and reliable products to the U.S. market by banking on its more than 20 years’ technology and experience in the Korean polyurethane industry. The company aims to step up its U.S. operations by launching the polyurethane system house business in conjunction with its film business, which has already taken root in the U.S. market. By effectively integrating its experience in local operations in the American market through the Georgia plant and its R&D capacity in the chemical industry, the company plans to step up marketing of products for automobile seats and system products for insulation of freezing equipment and construction, targeting local companies. Moreover, SKC plans to use the U.S. unit as a basis for export to U.S. and Latin America regions for its precision chemical products, including polyol and propylene glycol, which are being produced at the company’s Ulsan plant in Korea.


Global strategy of system house

SKC plans to secure four system house plants around the world by 2012, including plants in Poland, Southeast Asia, and India, as well as Beijing plant, which it is currently operating. The company aims to develop the capacity to produce more than 40,000 tons per annum, and generate at least 200 billion won in annual sales.


SKC Georgia Film Plant

SKC’s production complex in Georgia (SKC Inc.) is SKC’s U.S. unit, which is located in the city of Covington, about a 40-minute drive from Atlanta. Sitting on a 1.65 million sq. meter plot, the plant started polyester production in 1999, and controls a 15 percent share of the U.S. market, positioning the company as one of the three major p s, along with DuPont-Teijin and Mitsubishi.