Recently LG chem announced that the company has plans to construct a new Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS) plant in Ohio. The company revealed plans to invest around 60 billion won. The plant will be constructed at the company’s tech centre in United States and will have a production capacity of 30000 tonnes. The plant is expected to become operational by 2023. 

The plant will be producing customized ABS products locally responding to customer needs. The new plant is expected to have synergies with the company’s tech centre already established in United States. 

In addition to the above plant LG Chem also plans to construct an ABS polymerization plant in order to respond to North American customers as the company’s petrochemical business expands in the future. 

ABS is one of the most sought after engineering plastics. It is majorly used in automotive and electronics sector. Other applications include domestic appliances, pipes, fittings, and other construction products. It is also blended with other polymers such as PVC and polycarbonate for injection moulding applications. The global demand of ABS stood at around 11 million tonnes in 2020 and is expected to grow at a healthy CAGR of around 5% in the upcoming years. 

As per ChemAnalyst, “the plan of a new ABS plant by LG Chem is aimed at capturing the growing demand for the material in North America which accounts for almost 10% of the global demand for ABS and has high preference for local companies and products. The demand for the polymer is rising due to rising automotive and construction sector.”