Isu Chemical's Chinese Joint Venture 'GOC' Posts Profit for 4 Consecutive Years... Operating Profit Up 20% Year-on-Year

[Asia Economy Reporter Jang Hyowon] Isu Group (Chairman Kim Sangbeom)'s main affiliate, Isu Chemical (CEO Ryu Seungho), has maintained positive operating profit for four consecutive years at its Chinese joint venture ‘GOC (GREAT ORIENT CHEMICAL TAICHANG)’.

Isu Chemical announced that GOC's operating profit last year was $6 million USD (approximately 7 billion KRW), marking four consecutive years of profitability. This represents about a 20% increase compared to the previous year's operating profit of $5.1 million USD (approximately 5.6 billion KRW).

In particular, as of February this year, the monthly operating profit reached $1.5 million USD (approximately 1.8 billion KRW), the highest since its establishment. GOC is a local Chinese corporation established by Isu Chemical in Taichang City in November 2008, producing 100,000 tons annually of linear alkylbenzene (LAB).

An Isu Chemical official stated, “As domestic sales in China increased by about 30% compared to the previous year, actively responding to the clear improvement in supply and demand in the Chinese domestic market allowed us to maintain a profitable trend this year as well. The domestic market sales price in China, based on the price at the end of February, remains about 5% higher than the same period last year, and exports are also proceeding steadily.”

Although petrochemical companies in China faced difficulties last year due to the US-China trade dispute, LAB maintained steady demand growth because its main application, detergent, is an essential product.

Isu Chemical also views this year's outlook positively. GOC's target operating profit is $8 million USD (approximately 9.8 billion KRW), about a 33% increase from last year. The company said, “Although utilization rates of refineries in China have been adjusted since the COVID-19 pandemic, the GOC plant continues to operate normally without interruption. Since there are no issues with shipments, we plan to flexibly respond to domestic and export demand according to future market changes.”