LG Chem Ltd. (Seoul, South Korea) announced that it will invest around 60 billion won to construct an Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) compound plant at the site of the company’s Ohio Tech Center in the United States with an annual production capacity of 30,000 tons by 2023.
The plant will produce customized ABS products locally that reflect customer needs and this is expected to generate significant synergies with the American Tech Center in terms of strengthening customer responsiveness.
The North American market, which accounts for 10% of global demand for ABS, has a low self-sufficiency rate in the region and a high preference for local companies and products.
In particular, the demand for high value-add ABS with excellent heat resistance and weather resistance is continuously increasing due to the development of the automotive, construction and decoration materials industries.
LG Chem also plans to consider constructing an ABS polymerization plant to respond to North American customers as the petrochemical business areas expand in the future.
The introduction of the ABS compound plant and the American Tech Center is expected to strengthen intimacy with the customer and serve as a stepping stone for the expansion of the North American business. Earlier this year, LG Chem also announced a collaboration with Veolia to investigate the produciton of ABS from recycled waste materials.