SKC Haas Display Films has launched a $23 million plant in Dzierzonów, Poland, to produce optical polyester film and foil for liquid-crystal displays.
The Seoul-based company, a joint venture formed last year between South Korean film producer SKC Co. Ltd. and specialty chemicals group Rohm and Haas Co. of Philadelphia, plans to expand there, building two more production units by 2010.
The new plant, operated by subsidiary SKC Haas Polska, officially opened in August. It employs 40.
SKC and its partner aim to cash in on the expected rapid growth in demand for LCD optical film in Eastern Europe over the next five years. From just 5 percent of total world demand in 2007, the regional market is likely to grow substantially to reach 16 percent by 2012 — an annual growth rate of around 36 percent, according to Seoul-based SKC. It hopes to capture about 40 percent of that expanded market.
Light diffusion film produced by the plant is used in all kinds of LCDs including television screens and notebook computers. The plant makes foil in rolls that then are cut into sheet to be applied on screens.
The plant in Poland is SKC's fourth optical films plant. It operates others in Cheonan, South Korea, and Suzhou and Huizhou in China.