Na Kyung-soo, President of SK General Chemical, "Two Opportunities Amid Crisis... Leap to Global No.1"

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Soyeon] Na Kyungsoo, CEO of SK General Chemical, stated that through supplying lightweight materials for automobiles and strengthening the portfolio in the high-performance packaging sector, the company aims to find opportunities to leap to the number one position in the global packaging field despite global economic uncertainties.

In an interview with the internal news channel on the 6th, CEO Na said, "SK General Chemical has been strongly pursuing a portfolio restructuring focused on high value-added businesses that are resilient to any external variables as a core growth axis of the SK Innovation group," adding, "I am confident that we can turn the current crisis into a stepping stone for new growth."

He emphasized that despite economic uncertainties, there are opportunities in two areas: ▲ high-performance packaging business and ▲ lightweight materials for automobiles. CEO Na stated, "Despite the issues surrounding plastic waste, demand for high-performance packaging will continue to grow significantly," and added, "We are currently promoting product portfolio transformation and advancement."

SK General Chemical, a subsidiary of SK Innovation, has selected the high value-added packaging business as the next-generation growth engine and has focused on expanding related businesses. In 2017, it acquired the ethylene acrylic acid (EAA) and polyvinylidene chloride (PVDC) businesses, which are key materials for adhesive and barrier layers, from the American chemical company Dow, and last year agreed to acquire the high-performance polymer business of the French petrochemical company Arkema.

CEO Na hinted, "The acquisition of Arkema's high-performance polymer business is expected to be completed around April this year," adding, "We plan to successfully complete this and build a product portfolio at the level of Dow, the industry leader, and promote value-up work to enhance synergy."

Regarding the automotive business sector, he said, "SK's lightweight materials for automobiles achieve equivalent performance while drastically reducing the amount of plastic used," and added, "We are expanding high value-added polypropylene (PP) products, pursuing optimal recipe development projects using digital technology tailored to customer needs, and reviewing various options for global business expansion such as collaboration with global companies."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.