Lotte Chemical Accelerates Basic Chemical Restructuring... "Portfolio Shift to Four Key Growth Pillars"

Daesan Merger and Yeosu Restructuring Underway
Qualitative Growth Focused on Advanced Materials, Battery, and Hydrogen Energy

Lotte Chemical is accelerating the restructuring of its basic chemical business and shifting its portfolio to focus on four key growth pillars: advanced materials, battery materials, and hydrogen energy.

Youngjun Lee, CEO of Lotte Chemical, is presenting the company's strategy at the 'CEO Investor Meeting' held on the afternoon of the 16th. Lotte Chemical

According to Lotte Chemical on April 17, the company held a 'CEO Investor Meeting' with major domestic institutional investors at NH Financial Tower in Yeouido, Seoul, the previous day, where it shared the status of its petrochemical business restructuring and its mid- to long-term strategy.

At the event, CEO Youngjun Lee explained the progress of restructuring at the Daesan and Yeosu plants, stating, "We will enhance the competitiveness of our basic chemical business through proactive restructuring and rationalization, and establish a balanced portfolio centered on our four pillars of growth: advanced materials, specialty chemicals, battery materials, and hydrogen energy."

The basic chemical division is pursuing improvements in its financial and profit structure through restructuring. The Daesan plant is in the process of a merger with HD Hyundai Chemical, marking the first such merger in the domestic petrochemical industry, while the Yeosu plant has submitted its final restructuring plan to the government and is undergoing the approval process. The company plans to reinvest the investment capacity secured through business restructuring into high value-added and high-growth fields, aiming to transform its business structure with a focus on qualitative growth.

The advanced materials division is focusing on expanding its functional compounding business. Lotte Engineering Plastics plans to fully operate the largest compounding plant in Korea, with an annual production capacity of 500,000 tons, in the second half of the year, thereby increasing the supply of customized materials to customers. Building on this, the company will strengthen its lineup of high-performance products such as Super Engineering Plastics (Super EP), which offer enhanced heat resistance and strength, and expand its business into future industries including physical AI and aerospace.

The specialty chemicals division will expand its production capacity for high value-added food and pharmaceutical ingredients and will gradually expand its semiconductor chemical business, focusing on TMAC (a chemical used for cleaning and etching in semiconductor processes) and TMAH (a key chemical used in semiconductor development processes). The battery materials division aims to enhance competitiveness by increasing the proportion of high value-added products, such as AI circuit foils and high-end battery foils.

The hydrogen energy business is also gaining momentum. The joint venture Lotte SK Eneroot recently began commercial operation of the Ulsan Hydrogen Power Plant No. 1, and plans to secure a total generation capacity of 80MW by the end of the year through the completion of additional facilities. In addition, the company will use the Daesan hydrogen shipping center, which has been in operation since November last year, as a base to gain an early lead in the domestic market. For the ammonia business, Lotte plans to expand its focus on clean ammonia by leveraging the infrastructure and distribution network of Lotte Fine Chemical.

CEO Youngjun Lee said, "By restructuring our businesses and nurturing growth initiatives, we will achieve both profitability and growth potential."

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