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| President Moon Jae-in, second from left, talks to Hyosung Group Chairman, left, and employees during his visit to the carbon fiber plant in Jeonju, North Jeolla Province, Tuesday. Yonhap |
By Kwak Yeon-soo
Hyosung Group will invest 1 trillion won ($828 million) over the next 10 years to expand its carbon fiber business, the company said Tuesday.
Hyosung plans to build nine additional carbon fiber production lines at its plant in Jeonju, North Jeolla Province, to meet the rapidly growing demand for carbon fiber materials.
The additional lines will increase the plant's annual capacity to 24,000 tons from the current 2,000 tons, according to the company. Currently, the factory has only one production line. The investment will create about 2,300 jobs by 2028, it said.
Hyosung said the expansion will make it the world's No. 3 carbon fiber producer with a 10 percent market share in 2028. It currently ranks 11th in the global market with a 2 percent share.
Chairman Cho Hyun-joon signed a memorandum of understanding with the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and other carbon fiber-related companies, like Korea Aerospace Industries and Iljin Materials, over their collective efforts to create a favorable business environment.
President Moon Jae-in also visited the Jeonju plant to support the Korean firm that has been mass-producing carbon fibers with its own technology.
In 2011, Hyosung became the first Korean company to develop carbon fiber materials by its own technology.
During the visit, Moon urged Hyosung employees to have confidence in the company's competitiveness to produce high-tech materials and promised full support.
Hyosung's latest move complies with the government's so-called hydrogen economy and comes in line with the nation's latest efforts to localize high-tech materials amid a trade row with Japan.
"We've realized the potential of carbon fibers and taken the lead to develop our own technology. We will continue to build strong competitiveness in the chemical sector and strive to stay ahead of our competitors," Cho said.
Since 2013, Hyosung has been running a carbon fiber plant in Jeonju, North Jeolla Province, which can produce up to 2,000 tons of carbon fiber a year, and began construction for additional facilities at the plant in February to raise the plant's yearly output to 4,000 tons.
Carbon fiber weighs approximately one quarter of the same volume of steel but is 10 times stronger. Due to its strength, it is regarded as a key material for building hydrogen tanks which have to endure high pressure.
