LG Chem said Monday it has reached 30 trillion won ($24.6 billion) in sales this year, following its achievement of being named among the global top 10 chemical companies of 2018 in a magazine published by the American Chemical Society.

LG Chem said it now seeks a spot in the global top five by achieving 59 trillion won in sales and a double-digit operating profit margin by 2024.

To do so, LG Chem said the petrochemicals sector will continue its investments in high-value products, including synthetic resin acrylonitrile butadiene styrene. So far, the company has established a total of 2 million tons of ABS production systems at home and abroad to hold the biggest share in the ABS market.

As for its electric vehicle battery production line, LG Chem said it will expand its battery production capacity to 1.7 million units of high-performance pure electric vehicles (100 gigawatt-hours) by 2020. The electric vehicle battery sector is one of Korea’s more promising business sectors, according to local analysts.

LG Chem explained that its investments in research and development are a top priority to sustain the company’s continued growth.

(khnews@heraldcorp.com)