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Ulsan City (mayor: Song Cheol-ho) and Hyosung Advanced Materials (president: Hwang Jung-mo) announced that they signed an MOU for investment in the expansion of the latter’s Aramid factory on May 20, 2PM at the Ulsan City Hall.
The MOU is said to be dealing with Hyosung’s contribution to Ulsan’s economic invigoration through investment in the expansion of the factory. For its part, Ulsan City will provide administrative support concerning the necessary authorizations and approvals.
The Hyosung Group considered a site in Vietnam for the construction of a new factory but decided to expand the existing factory in Ulsan -- which provides favorable conditions for businesses -- considering the importance of promoting the domestic economy’s rapid recovery and the need to have the production base of core materials in the home country.
Under the MOU, Hyosung plans to invest a total of KRW 61.3 billion in its Aramid factory in Ulsan, finish the expansion by the first half of 2021, and expand the factory’s production capacity from 1,200 tons to 3,700 tons a year.
With said expansion, the Company expects to kill two birds with one stone -- securing higher competitiveness in cost and product quality and enhancing the world market share.
“We are happy with Hyosung’s decision to expand said factory in addition to the KRW 300 billion investment by Hyosung-Linde Korea in its liquid hydrogen factory in Ulsan. We will spare no effort in providing administrative support for the development of these businesses,” Ulsan Mayor Song Cheol-ho said.
For his part, President Hwang Jung-mo of Hyosung Advanced Materials said that the Company will strive to contribute to the economic invigoration of Ulsan by making a positive foray into markets for products with high added value like aramid and aim to be the No. 1 business in the world in the materials sector based on its quality and technical skills.
Aramid fibers are fibers with excellent heat resistance and high strength. Extensive research and development efforts have been made for them over the past decades. They are divided into m-Aramid and p-Aramid.
Hyosung started developing the fibers with its own technology in 2003 and launched ALKEXⓇ, which is a p-Aramid, in 2009.
ALKEXⓇ is five times stronger than steel, with resistance to up to 500°C and good chemical resistance. The demand for the ALKEXⓇ is increasing continuously owing to such merits.
ALKEXⓇ is used in the defense industry (bulletproof clothes and helmets). It is also used as materials reinforcing optical cable, in car belts/hoses and oil/gas markets, and as reinforcing material in the construction of houses.
The demand for optical cable is rapidly increasing amid the application of the 5G communications network. Thus, the growth of the Aramid market is expected to lead to the development of related industries.
