LG Chem Ltd., South Korea's leading chemical firm, said Tuesday it will invest $100 million to expand its polarizer production in the Chinese city of Nanjing in order to prepare for the fast growing display market there.

A polarizer is a multilayered optical film used for transmitting light in thin film transistor liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) modules, which are used in mobile gadgets, laptops and televisions.

The expansion will increase LG Chem's annual production capacity to 54 million square meters from the current 40 million square meters, marking the largest capacity in China, the Korean firm said.

LG Chem said it plans to build an additional production line in Nanjing by the first half of 2016, with two lines already in operation to account for 30 percent of the market share in China.

The Chinese polarizer market is forecast to grow up to 81 million square meters by 2017, an annual increase of 30 percent, according to industry researcher Display Search. (Yonhap)