SK Chemicals to spend $214M on new plastic production line

SK Chemicals, a Korean pharmaceutical and chemicals manufacturer, said Friday that it will invest 230 billion won ($214 million) to build a new production line for a cutting-edge plastic.

The production line with an annual capacity of 12,000 tons of ployphenylene sulfide (PPS) is scheduled to be completed in the company’s Ulsan complex, 414 kilometers (257 miles) southeast of Seoul, by the second half of 2015, the chemicals company said.

The plastic is used as parts of vehicles and electronics.

In 2017, when SK Chemicals is due to start commercial production of PPS, its sales of PPS are predicted to reach 140 billion won, the company said.

As of this year, the volume of the PPS global market is estimated at 94,000 tons, but it is forecast to rise to 100,000 tons in 2019, the company said.
Yonhap