● SK chemicals Enters the Global Blood Plasma Market,New "SK Plasma" Facilities in Andong

- Construction of a 600,000-liter annual capacity blood plasma plant with commercial production
   slated for 2018.
- Overseas business spearheaded with new state-of-the-art facilities and cooperation solidified
   with the city of Andong.



SK chemicals has taken the first step in the advancement and specialization of its new growth engine, the blood plasma business.

Man-hun Park, CEO of SK chemicals, announced on the 7th of this month that a groundbreaking ceremony was held by the subsidiary SK Plasma (Jeong-tae Kim, CEO) for the construction of a new blood plasma plant in the city of Andong in North Gyeongsang Province.

The ceremony was attended by North Gyeongsang Provincial Governor Kwan-yong Kim, Andong Mayor Yeong-se Kwon, National Assemblyman Kwang-lim Kim, SK chemicals CEO Man-hun Park, co-CEO Byeong-ro Han, and SK Plasma CEO Jeong-tae Kim among others.

The new facility will be built on a 31,586 ㎡ area within Andong`s `North Gyeongsang Bio-industry Complex` where the SK chemicals vaccine plant is currently located.

SK Plasma`s entire line of blood plasma products including albumin is expected to be produced at the new plant. The plasma fractionation capacity is estimated to be 600,000 liters annually, an almost five-fold increase from SK chemicals` current production capacity.

Although the domestic blood plasma business was its original focus, SK Plasma now plans to accelerate growth into overseas markets thanks to the production increase and globally competitive quality levels available at the new plant.

To this end, SK Plasma expects to achieve global standard levels in all facilities and processes by 2016 and plans to start commercial production by June 2018 when inspections for the production facility are expected to be completed.

The plant is planned to be fully eco-friendly with integrated energy-saving and pollutant-minimizing systems.

An SK Plasma official explained, "The global blood plasma market is a $15 billion industry with an annual growth rate of over 10%. This groundbreaking ceremony was a crucial turning point in globalizing the blood plasma business of SK chemicals."


► SK chemicals builds a "bio-cluster" in Andong

SK chemicals plans to build a bio-cluster centered in the city of Andong with global market penetration as the goal.

Last year, SK chemicals effectively moved the center of its vaccine business to Andong by completing the "L-House" vaccine plant in the city. The biopharmaceutical production facilities of SK chemicals will be centralized in Andong with the completed expansion of the blood plasma plant.

Byeong-ro Han, co-CEO of SK chemicals, stated, "I would like to express my gratitude to the city of Andong, North Gyeongsang Province, and the government officials who helped start a new bio-industry that will lead the healthcare industry in the 21st century." He added, "[SK chemicals] will contribute to the advancement of the Andong region through continuous investment and industry development."

Local government officials also expressed their commitment in providing support for SK chemicals` new business expansion. North Gyeongsang Provincial Governor Kwan-yong Kim stated, "This groundbreaking ceremony is the starting point for turning the city of Andong into the Mecca of South Korea`s bio-industries. I will actively support SK chemicals so that Andong can open new horizons for mutual growth in the region as well as the bio-industry, a vital pillar in Korea’s new creative economy."

SK Plasma was launched as a blood plasma business subsidiary of SK chemicals on the first of this month and will lead the overall business and marketing strategies that were previously spearheaded by SK chemicals proper.