LG Chem's AI Transformation.
LG Chem announces 15 trillion won R&D investment to pivot into AI-driven materials.
Key Points
LG Chem aims to achieve a double-digit operating profit margin by 2030 as it pivots from traditional petrochemicals to high-growth, AI-driven materials.
In semiconductors, LG Chem’s advanced packaging materials strategy includes not only packaging adhesives and PID/DAF/CCL but also glass substrates, expanding the high-value packaging materials portfolio.
LG Chem plans to focus R&D toward AI-based new application areas and leading technologies, signaling a deeper push into frontier tech beyond AI-driven materials.
The company intends to accelerate growth through mergers and acquisitions within the scope of available resources, signaling a reliance on external deals as a key execution lever.
LG Chem announced plans on June 22, 2026 to spend 15 trillion won — about $9.75 billion — on R&D through 2035, according to The Korea Herald. The South Korean chemical giant is making a sharp turn away from traditional petrochemicals toward semiconductors, robotics, and cancer drugs.
CEO Kim Dong-chun unveiled the plan at a company-wide town hall in Seoul. He said LG Chem will make "a leap forward as a technology-driven converting company," targeting a double-digit operating profit margin by 2030, The Korea Herald reported.
Oversupply from China Is Forcing a Radical Pivot
LG Chem's traditional petrochemicals business — built on basic chemicals like ethylene and propylene — has been squeezed for years. Global oversupply, driven largely by Chinese competitors, has crushed margins. The company now sees no path back to strong profits in that market.
So the company is redeploying its budget. About 70% of the 15 trillion won — roughly 10.5 trillion won — will flow into four growth areas: semiconductor materials, mobility and robotics materials, cancer drugs, and AI-driven frontier materials, Seoul Economic Daily reported.
Semiconductor Materials and Glass Substrates Lead the Tech Push
LG Chem wants to double its electronic materials revenue from 1 trillion won to 2 trillion won by 2030, according to The Korea Herald. The company will push into high-value packaging materials — including Photo Imageable Dielectric (PID), Die Attach Film (DAF), and Copper Clad Laminate (CCL). These are the glues and layers that hold advanced chips together.
The company is also betting on glass substrates — thin glass layers used inside AI server chips. These are a newer, harder-to-make alternative to traditional packaging materials, giving LG Chem a higher-margin product to sell into the booming AI hardware market, GuruFocus noted.
Robots, Cancer Drugs, and a New Team Reporting to the CEO
Beyond chips, LG Chem plans to expand into robot structural materials and precision bonding materials — the parts that make robots move and hold together. The company is working with undisclosed global robotics firms to build these product lines, aiming for stable, long-term profit sources separate from the volatile chemical cycle, The Korea Herald reported.
On the drug side, LG Chem will grow its cancer drug pipeline through global clinical trials, licensing deals, and acquisitions. To move faster on all fronts, the company created a new business development unit in June 2026 that reports directly to CEO Kim Dong-chun, bypassing normal chains of command, according to Seoul Economic Daily.
M&A Is the Accelerator, but Analysts Urge Caution
LG Chem says it will use mergers and acquisitions to speed up its transformation. The company wants to buy its way into new markets rather than wait years for organic R&D to deliver results. GuruFocus analysts call the plan a necessary "hedge" against the petrochemical cycle, and see it as LG Chem's bid to re-rate its stock from a chemicals company to a tech-growth company.
But skeptics warn the 2035 deadline is a long runway. Some analysts also flag the won-dollar exchange rate — near a 17-year high at around 1,520 won — as a headwind that will raise the cost of overseas deals and foreign clinical trials, Seoul Economic Daily reported.
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