Samyang Group to focus on 'specialty products'

Samyang Group CEO Kim Yoon speaks in a town hall meeting aired online to company staff on Monday. [SAMYANG GROUP]

Chemical products manufacturer Samyang Group will restructure its business by producing higher value-added goods and digitizing working methods.

In an annual town hall meeting held online Monday, Samyang Group Chairman Kim Yoon said the Covid-19 pandemic called for fundamental change in the company’s business.

Unlike a score of Korean business leaders who emphasized the need to look further into the future, Kim highlighted the ability to rapidly respond to urgent situations, deeming it more important at such a time of high uncertainty.

“We should shift to focusing our capacity to come up with immediate responses rather than try to predict the future,” he said. “And our strategy to prepare in the post-Covid-19 era should be developing ‘specialty products’ targeted at global clients.”

Until now, Samyang’s strategy has been making products that can serve general purposes like polycarbonate. By “specialty products,” Kim is referring to goods that can serve specific usage points by combining different chemicals. One example is its "metalinus" which is plastic that's made to have a metal-like surface. This product is now used in home electronics.

The company has also been pushing for digitization since last year, increasing the adoption of data analysis and robotics in its manufacturing process.

By Song Kyoung-son