[Money Today] November 26, 2003 SK chemicals, one of the major chemical materials producers, announced on the 26th that its newly developed SKYBOARD, an architectural heartwood (for sandwich panel use), which is harmless to the human body and environmentally safe, received a good response from the construction materials market. The company also stated that they have initially begun commercial production with equipment sufficient to mass- produce 200,000 square meters. However, they will expand the production capability to 500,000 square meters in the first half of next year due to the quick increase in market demand.SKYBOARD, the construction material made out of pollution-free resources, such as PET bottles, is the product that is inserted in the middle of sandwich panels, which are used for interior and exterior wall materials. This product, which uses PET materials, is especially light and easy to handle. It does not show the defects of previous products, such as respiratory problems and being prone to catch on fire.Lee Hyong-wook, team leader at SK chemicals, said, ?About ten billion won has been invested to develop new sandwich panel in the last two years. We successfully developed a product, which is harmless to the human body and fireproof. We are cooperating with large domestic companies that are manufacturing panels and focusing on early expansion of the markets?. He also added that the goal to own 30% of the market share should be easily achieved since early response for the product is very good. Total market size this year for the sandwich panel, which is used for building factories, large outlet stores, and multi-use buildings, is expected to reach 1 trillion won. Reporter- Lee Eun jeong