Seoul, South Korea-based LG Dow Polycarbonate Ltd. is adding 143 million pounds of annual polycarbonate production to its Yeosu, South Korea, plant, giving it annual capacity of 320 million pounds.
President Mark Remmert said construction should begin soon on an expansion to accommodate a second line that the firm expects to start operating in less than two years.
The line will help supply the region's high demand for polycarbonate resins, said D.H. Jun, executive vice president.
``We estimate global demand will continue to grow around 7-8 percent, with Asia being above 10 percent,'' said spokeswoman Julie Lee.
``The new line will serve major polycarbonate application markets in primarily Korea and Greater China, as well as the rest of Asia, including general-purpose uses, sheet applications, and optical media.''
The plant currently employs 100. ``As it was designed for two trains, we expect to have a minimum number of new jobs created from the second train,'' Lee said. ``We estimate to have an increase of 10 percent to 20 percent new jobs.''
LG Dow Polycarbonate Ltd. is a 50-50 joint venture between Midland, Mich.-based Dow Chemical Co. and LG Chem Ltd., also of Seoul.
LG-Dow was founded in 1999. The Yeosu plant started running in July 2001, assuming the market franchise for Calibre-brand PC from Dow.
The company has sales offices in Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hong Kong and Taipei.
