Hyosung Group will spend 1 trillion won to build a plant for polyketone resin and an R&D center in Ulsan near the current production facility.
The Ulsan city government said on July 2 that Ulsan city mayor Kim Ki-hyun and Hyosung vice chairman Lee Sang-woon signed on the same day a memorandum for polyketone plant construction.
Polyketone is a high-performance, environmentally friendly engineering plastic developed by Hyosung by combining carbon monoxide with olefins (including ethylene and propylene). Polyketone's impact strength and chemical resistance are 2.3 and 2.5 times higher than those of nylon, respectively.
Once the plant is up and running, Hyosung aims to reach 30 percent of the world's market. Currently the global market for engineering plastics of which polyketone is an ingredient is estimated at US$58.8 billion. Earlier in 2014, Hyosung Group began building a 50,000-ton polyketone plant in Ulsan at the cost of 125 billion won. The plant is scheduled to be completed by the year's end.