SKC will open a subsidiary SKC China late this year to manage 8 manufacturing facilities and reinforce local sales and marketing in China.
SKC said on September 23 that it would invest 10 million dollars in building SKC Suzhou New Material in Wujiang, Suzhou in China, which will roll out IT processing films used for liquid crystal displays and semiconductors. It added that it also planned to launch SKC China, a main office of local business units, by the year`s end.
"SKC China will serve as headquarters for operations in China, where we have established firm foundation based on 10 years of experience and extensive infrastructure," said an officer at the company. "It will be in line with SK Group`s global business plan, but the new entity will be independent from the group."
SKC aims to double revenues in the Chinese market from 100 billion won (approixmately 86 million dollars) this year to 200 billion won by 2005. To this end, it plans to build a manufacturing facility to roll out such IT processing films as polyesther, LCD and semiconductor films, display devices and lithium-polymer batteries.
The company is poised to launch a sales unit of polyesther films and is now looking for a production site. It is also considering building a lithium polymer battery assembly line in Suzhou, and entering the display device market for organic EL and PDP filters.
"Beginning this year, we will switch operations in China from low-cost production to core profitable businesses to further break into the market," said Choi Dong-il, CEO of the company. "We are seeking to aggressively expand our presence in Suzhou, in particular, as the region becomes a magnet of IT and display multinationals."
Meanwhile, the company held a groundbreaking ceremony of an IT processing film factory in Wujiang on the day. The facility, sprawling through some 10,000-pyong site, will roll out 10 million square meter of LCD and hard coating films in two production lines. SKC targets 30 billion won in sales revenue in 2004 and 50 billion won in 2005.
It also plans to expand production lines in Cheonan Factory and facilities in Taiwan by one line to roll out more IT processing films, which it sees as a next-generation mainstream business.