SK Innovation reorganises corporate structure to re-focus on battery and chemicals
South Korea’s SK Innovation has reorganised its corporate structure, which will allow it to re-focus on its battery and chemical businesses.The reorganisation came two months after the company had announced its plan.
“The reorganisation was conducted to do better something we haven’t done before,” said SK Innovation CEO Kim Jun. “It is to speed up (the company’s new vision) Deep Change 2.0, (in which we plan to) focus on batteries and chemicals.”
The newly launched battery unit will lead the company’s overall marketing strategies. SK will also expand its R&D capability on battery development. SK will place the battery unit and its R&D lab under the direct supervision of its CEO.
Meanwhile, the company’s chemical arm will focus more on the automotive and packaging businesses, by separating these from the existing marketing department.
The decision was made to expand the company’s drive to manufacture more high value-added chemical products.
The company plans to spend KRW10 trillion (USD8.91 billion) in the battery and other non-refining sectors by 2020. The investment will help the company solidify its leading position in the energy and chemical segments.
Since 2011, the company has spent KRW4 trillion (USD3.5 billion) on the chemicals and lubricants sectors by upgrading its petrochemical plants in Incheon and Ulsan, and forging a joint venture with Spain’s Repsol to build a Group III base oil plant in Cartagena, Spain, the largest Group III base oil plant in the region.