LG Chem aims to join the global top five in the chemical industry by 2025, by increasing investment in capital expenditure and research & development in the areas of its base materials, electronics, life science and battery unit. 

The company plans to spend 2.76 trillion won ($2.4 billion) on capital expenditure this year, up 40 percent on-year, and also set aside 1 trillion won for research and development, the largest amount in the firm’s history.

LG Chem first plans to increase its production capacity of high-value synthetic resins and elastomers to 290,000 tons by 2018, as part of increasing high-margin business in its base materials unit.

The outlook of elastomers, which have both rubber and plastic properties, is rosy. The market is predicted to grow to 3.5 trillion won by 2020 from 2.4 trillion won last year, according to the US market search firm Chemical Market Resources.

As for its information and electronics unit, LG Chem plans to strengthen new businesses such as water treatment and functional films alongside its existing polarizer business. Last month, the firm landed a contract to supply 300,000 tons of seawater filters to Egyptian water treatment company Metito, the Middle Eastern country’s largest ever water treatment deal.

LG Chem also plans to strengthen its profile in three key areas of its life science segment -- metabolic disease, bio medicine and vaccine. It plans to foster its diabetes drug Zemigloa as the leading product in the global industry. Zemiglo, which LG Chem developed for nine years with an investment of 47 billion won, generated 55.7 billion won in sales last year.