GS Caltex held its 50th anniversary event Thursday at GS Tower in Gangnam, Seoul, celebrating achievements the company made over the past five decades.

GS Caltex Chairman Huh Jin-Soo encouraged employees to prepare for the next 50 years to come in his speech.

Korea’s first private-sector oil refiner GS Caltex was founded in 1967 as Honam Oil Refinery. It changed its name to LG Caltex in 1996 and GS Caltex in 2005, the year in which GS Group was founded.

GS Caltex‘s daily oil-refining capacity has increased from 60,000 barrels in 1969 to some 790,000 barrels a day currently, marking 13-fold growth. The company’s annual sales also rose to 25 trillion won ($22 billion) from 1.2 billion won in 1968. 

Since 2011 the company has invested some 11 trillion won to increase overall competitiveness in exports. The company’s exports accounted for 71 percent of total annual sales last year, greatly increasing from the figure in 2000 of 23 percent.

In 2016, GS Caltex’s annual operating profit reached 2.1 trillion won, gaining a 64 percent on-year increase. The 2016 annual net profit of the company also rose 45.8 percent on-year to 1.4 trillion won.

In the first quarter this year, GS Caltex‘s sales recorded 7.2 trillion won, a 32.5 percent increase, compared with the same period last year. Its operating profit was 585 billion won, gaining 85.2 percent on-year.

GS Caltex is currently in the process of building a demo plant in Yeosu, South Jeolla Province, to produce bio butanol, a biofuel that can be used as a substitute for gasoline. GS Caltex will invest some 50 billion won for its construction. The plant is expected to produce 400 metric tons of bio butanol annually, when construction finishes later this year, the company said.

GS Caltex Chairman Huh also noted the company would “look for new business opportunities and diversify its portfolios” at the 50th anniversary event.

By Shim Woo-hyun (ws@heraldcorp.com)