OCI Co. Ltd. (Seoul, South Korea; www.oci.co.kr) and POSCO Chemical (Pohang-si, South, Korea; www.posco.com) held a groundbreaking ceremony for the new plant of P&O Chemical, the companies’ joint venture, at the National Industrial Complex in Taein-dong, Gwangyang-si, Jeollanam-do.
The ceremony was attended by more than 20 dignitaries, including Jang Hyung-gon, Director General of the Economy and Welfare Bureau of Gwangyang-si, Min Kyung-zoon, the CEO of POSCO Chemical, Kim Jong-guk, the CEO of P&O Chemical, Kim Teak-Joung, the CEO of OCI, and Kim Yoo-Shin, the Chief Marketing Officer of OCI.
The new plant will be built on a site with an area of 42,000㎡ near the Gwangyang plant of OCI with commercial production to begin in 2022. It will produce 50,000 metric tons of hydrogen peroxide a year to supply to semiconductor and display manufacturers and others, using a byproduct of steelmaking, as a raw material for the peroxide provided by POSCO Chemical.
In April 2019, OCI signed an MOU with POSCO Chemical for strategic cooperation in chemicals using a byproduct of steelmaking processes, and to form a joint venture, and has since discussed ways to implement projects to produce hydrogen peroxide. In July 2020, P&O Chemical, a joint venture with OCI holding a 49% stake and POSCO Chemical the other 51%, was formed to launch a high value-added materials business.
With this new plant, OCI can secure a stable source of high-quality raw material more economically and reliably, further enhancing its competitive edge in hydrogen peroxide production, and POSCO Chemical can maximize added value by producing chemical products based on the byproduct of steelmaking as a raw material.
Hydrogen peroxide (H202) is a typical oxidizer used as a disinfectant or bleaching agent, and high-purity peroxide is essential for cleaning high-tech products such as semiconductors and displays.