LG Chem plans to make big investments in the coming years to restructure its business portfolio through reducing the capacity of oversupplied products while increasing the output of profitable items.The country’s top chemical firm said Sunday that it will build more naphtha cracking centers (NCC) and convert the product lines of oversupplied polystyrene (PS) into product lines of high value-added acrolonitrile, butadiene and styrene (ABS). It will also expand ethylene production capacity to 230,000 tons.

Toward that end, the company looks to spend 287 billion won ($253 million) at the Daesan Complex, South Chungcheong Province by 2019.After the expansion, the annual capacity of the complex will likely mark 1.27 million tons, the largest capacity among single NCC plants worldwide.

LG Chem also plans to lower the energy consumption of the Daesan Complex to improve its cost competitiveness.The company’s recent decision to expand NCC was made to secure raw materials needed for higher value-added products and maintain its lead in the market through economies of scale.It aims to increase sales in the lucrative naphtha-cracking business to 7 trillion won.

The Seoul-based company will also convert one of two PS production lines at the Yeosu Plant, South Jeolla Province, into an ABS production line.The conversion will likely increase production of ABS by 30,000 tons per year, while that of PS will decrease by 50,000 tons. ABS is mainly used for vehicles, home appliances and IT devices, because of its thermal resistance and impact resistance.LG Chem currently leads the world’s ABS market, dominating 20 percent of market share. The company expects the ongoing restructuring of its business to improve its bottom line.