LG Group chairman Koo Bon-moo is leading the drive to nurture future growth projects as he made his trip to LG Chem’s liquid-crystal display plant in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, on Tuesday.

The visit was Koo’s seventh to the group’s part-supplying affiliates’ plants as the chairman is continuing with LG’s efforts to take the lead in the global market. He visited the battery plant for electric vehicles in February, the solar wafer factory in April and the film-patterned retarder 3-D film plant in May, among others.

“The foundation for a global top firm is created by the competitiveness of its projects concerning subparts and materials,” said Koo. “The group must turn the related businesses into future key growth engines through innovations and challenges.”

With the goal of gaining a bigger share in the global LCD market, LG Chem’s LCD glass plant located in the industrial complex in Paju is getting ready for production in the first half of next year.

According to LG Chem officials, LCD glass takes up more than 20 percent of the material costs of LCD, making it the most expensive part. This indicates that building of the plant will not only boost the supply, but also cut the price and enable a steady supply of the subpart.

Starting with one production line for LCD glass next year, LG said it expects to expand it to three production lines in 2013.

The group also plans on injecting 3 trillion won ($2.61 billion) by 2016 to construct seven production lines, targeting to become an LCD glass maker that raises yearly sales of 2 trillion won, its officials said.

The LCD glass project is likely to build a unified production system for LG Chem, LG Display and LG Electronics, being positioned as the group’s cash cow in the future.

Currently, the global LCD glass industry is dominated by three foreign firms ― Corning, Asahi Glass and AvanStrate Asia.

By Cho Ji-hyun (sharon@heraldcorp.com)