Hyosung Chairman Cho Hyun-Joon signed a memorandum of understanding with Amin H. Nasser, president and CEO of Saudi Aramco, a global petrochemical company of Saudi Arabia, at Conrad Seoul in Yeouido, Seoul, on June 25 to consider building a carbon fiber plant. 

Under the MOU, Hyosung (KRX:004800) and Saudi Aramco will positively consider a plan to build carbon fiber plants in Saudi Arabia and South Korea through cooperation in the development and application of carbon fiber production technology. 

Carbon fibers are four times lighter and 10 times stronger than steel. Hyosung developed carbon fibers in 2011 independently for the first time as a Korean company. It has operated a carbon fiber plant with the annual output capacity of 2,000 tons built in Jeonju, North Jeolla Province, in 2013. Another carbon fiber plant with the same capacity is under construction on the premise of the Jeonju plant since February. 

In March, Hyosung Chairman Cho had signed a wide-ranging MOU with Saudi Aramco for cooperation in projects related to chemicals, advanced materials, and hydrogen. Saudi Aramco was considering new projects in the fields of automobiles and new renewable energy, so it allegedly recognized the need to cooperate with Hyosung which had built up its own technology in advanced materials, including carbon fibers. 

At that time, Ahmad A. Al-Sa’adi, senior vice president of Saudi Aramco and other executives visited the Hyosung carbon fiber plant in Jeonju, to inspect production lines carefully, and they verified Hyosung’s differentiated technology with their own eyes, putting their confidence in it. 

Hyosung Chairman Cho Hyun-Joon said, “I look forward to seeing carbon fiber and other new businesses grow down the road through the combination of Saudi Aramco’s management know-how and Hyosung’s proprietary technology.”