LG Chem plans to focus on premium products rather than commodities for improved profit this year, its chief executive said on Tuesday.

Park Jin-soo, chief executive officer of LG Chem, said that its Chinese rivals are not currently much of a threat in the petrochemical sector, though acknowledged that their self-sustainability levels are improving.

“We believe China will see about an 8 percent growth in the sector,” he said during his first meeting with the press. “Self-sustainability is continuously going up, but the total amount of imports will not be reduced for many years.”

The chemical firm has also set its 2013 sales target at 24.86 trillion won ($22.91 billion), up 6.9 percent from this year, with a concentration on premium products such as 3-D film-type patterned retarder and optically clear Indium Tin Oxide film for touch screens.

Facility investment for the firm will also see a rise of 2.2 percent to hit up to 2.12 trillion won in 2013, he said.

Of this year’s new investments totaling up to 1.36 trillion won, the largest portion will be injected into IT and electronic materials ― 740 billion won ― largely due to the addition of another line in its LCD glass panel plant in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, said Park.

About 550 billion won will be poured into petrochemicals and the remaining 70 billion won in polymer batteries, he added.

As for the firm’s plan to build an ethylene production plant in Atyrau, Kazakhstan, with two other Kazakh firms, production is expected to begin in late 2016.

Project financing and the selection of a company responsible for engineering, procurement and construction are currently in the works, according to Park.

LG projects that the plant will manufacture up to 800,000 tons of ethylene a year by injecting a $4.2 billion investment into the complex.

The chief executive also said he is not currently considering splitting up its battery unit.

Park, 61, was named to head LG Chem in December of last year. Stressing the necessity of communication, he has been in the field for over 15 years and has worked around production plants.

He joined LG Chem in 1977 and has led growth of the anti-lock breaking system businesses. In 2003, he was seated as the joint chief of Hyundai Petrochemical, before it was acquired by LG Chem.

He later took the chief position at LG Petrochemical in 2005, enabling its Naphtha Cracking Center to rise to Asia’s top three within his term. NCC is the plant with the facility for naphtha, or flammable liquid mixture, at 800 degrees Celsius to produce petrochemical feedstocks like ethylene and propylene.

Park has headed petrochemical projects at LG Chem since 2008.

By Cho Ji-hyun (sharon@heraldcorp.com)