Sales Revenue Up 38.4% and Operating Profit Up 67.1% Compared to Last Year
[Asia Economy Reporter Donghoon Jeong] Lotte Fine Chemical announced its business performance for the previous year on the 7th, reporting annual sales of 2.4638 trillion KRW and operating profit of 408.5 billion KRW. This represents an all-time high, with sales increasing by 38.4% and operating profit by 67.1% compared to the previous year.
Lotte Fine Chemical has set a record high performance for two consecutive years. The main reasons include increased demand from upstream industries due to economic recovery, price increases from competitors in Europe and other regions leading to higher selling prices, and expanded sales volume from the cellulose series capacity expansion.
By division, the Chemical Business Division recorded sales of 1.9683 trillion KRW, up 42.6% from the previous year. The sharp increase in sales was due to rising raw material prices and increased upstream demand, which led to higher selling prices for key products such as ammonia, caustic soda, and ECH (a raw material for epoxy coatings).
The Green Materials Business Division posted sales of 495.5 billion KRW, a 23.9% increase from the previous year. This was mainly due to the full-scale sales of expanded cellulose series factories worth a total of 180 billion KRW, completed in the first half of last year to strengthen high value-added specialty materials.
The performance for the fourth quarter of last year showed sales of 496.6 billion KRW and operating profit of 48.2 billion KRW, representing decreases of 5.0% and 43.2% respectively compared to the same period last year. This was due to a planned reduction in overall product output caused by scheduled factory maintenance.
Meanwhile, Lotte Fine Chemical plans to expand investments in clean hydrogen/ammonia businesses and high value-added specialty businesses for sustainable growth. Based on its position as East Asia’s number one ammonia distribution infrastructure, Lotte Fine Chemical led the establishment of a global clean hydrogen/ammonia supply chain by importing the world’s first clean ammonia produced in December last year. Additionally, it is investing 16 billion KRW in expanding the TMAC (a raw material for semiconductor developing solutions) factory, a high value-added specialty material, and plans to concretize new business investments this year.
A Lotte Fine Chemical official stated, “In 2022, we set a record high for two consecutive years through improved market conditions for key products due to demand recovery and expanded sales volume from cellulose series capacity expansion.” He added, “This year, we will concretize investments in clean hydrogen/ammonia businesses and new high value-added specialty material business sectors for sustainable growth.”
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