SK's Exports Hit Record High of 64% in H1

Surpasses the 60 percent mark for the second consecutive half

SKGroup is fast shifting from a domestic demand-oriented conglomerate into an export-oriented one as the group's manufacturing exporting portion reached a record high of 64 percent in the first half of this year, surpassing the 60 percent mark for the second consecutive half.
The conglomerate's manufacturing affiliates, including SK Innovation, SK Energy, SK Global Chemical, SK Lubricants, SKC and SK Chemical, chalked up a combined estimated 28.41 trillion won in sales in the first half of this year, of which 18.17 trillion won or 64 percent of the total, was earned by exporting products abroad.
The 2011 H1 export figure is a record high performance on a half-year basis and represents a 29.8 percent surge over the 14.25 trillion won recorded in the same half of 2010. If the overseas demand for petroleum products continues to rise, the group's manufacturing exports are forecast to surpass the 40 trillion won mark in exports for the first time.
The group's fast shift into an export-oriented conglomerate is interpreted as the fact that SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won's export drive policy finally getting off the ground, industry analysts said.
In the 2010 New Year's message, Chairman Chey stressed global expansion as a dramatic way of enhancing its corporate value by making the most of successes, leading to gains in the group's competitiveness in the domestic markets.
An SK Group official said the group's remarkable export performance was owed to its global standards of refinery technology and a surge in the exporting of eco-friendly plastic products coupled with the exporting of value-added PET films, on top of a rise in the overall demand for petroleum products.
Specifically, SK Energy posted sales of 43.21 million barrels of petroleum products in the second half of 2010, a record-high exporting performance in a half-year and an 11 percent rise over the previous half due to an overall rise in petroleum product demand in the Asian market.
SK Chemical saw exports increase more than 10 percent, backed by demand for its green chemicals, including PETG (polyethylene terephthalate glycol) and PET chips for beverage and food containers.
SKC posted a more than 50 percent surge in exports over the previous half, a record high export performance in the film sector, thanks to its focus on value-added PET film through continue quality improvement efforts.
Chairman Chey made massive investments, recognizing the fact that for global strategies to pay off continuously, there needs to be continuous investments.
The group poured as much as 2 trillion won into the second residue fluid catalytic cracking unit (RFCC) project in Ulsan, $100 million for the lubricant oil plant project in Indonesia and more than 500 billion won for the LNG plant project in Peru. The group has established resources production and marketing hubs with massive investments.
The SK manufacturing affiliates'exporting portion accounted for a mere 30.8 percent in 1997 before Chey took the helm at the conglomerate, and the figure soared to 50.3 percent in 2006, as the chairman's global strategies paid off, and it now surpasses the 60 percent mark.
Lee Man-woo, head of SK Holdings'Brand Management Office, said, SK Group will attain two goals ― expanding its global presence and contributing to the development of the national economy by making aggressive investments in the top three new growth areas ― securing new energy resources, building a smart environment and developing innovative industrial technologies. nw

SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won

Photo on Courtesy of SK Group