[Click e Stock] "Hyosung Chemical, Polyketone Business Expected to Turn Profitable"

[Asia Economy Reporter Park So-yeon] Kiwoom Securities maintained a target price of 460,000 KRW and a buy rating for Hyosung Chemical on the 3rd, stating that "the polycarbonate business is expected to achieve positive EBITDA this year and turn to operating profit next year."

Lee Dong-wook, a researcher at Kiwoom Securities, said, "Hyosung Chemical's polycarbonate sales, which were only around 6 billion KRW in 2017, are expected to reach 83.1 billion KRW next year," adding, "Sales prices are rising and related demand is increasing."

The researcher mentioned, "With the expansion of penetration into the large automotive market, factory operating rates are expected to improve." The operating rate, which was only 3-5% in 2017, is estimated to rise to 35% this year and 50% next year.

Recently, with the expansion of ESG management by automobile companies, polycarbonate parts for electric vehicles are increasingly adopted because they emit less carbon dioxide compared to other engineering plastics during manufacturing and use carbon monoxide, a major air pollutant, as a raw material.

The global crystalline engineering plastics market is estimated at 4.62 million tons. Among this, the market currently considered applicable for polycarbonate is about 494,000 tons, and the potential market size is expected to expand to around 1.16 million tons.

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