LG Chem has acquired new orders for water purification filters totalling US$ 8 million under exclusive deals with five desalination projects. The projects are at sites in Israel, Spain, Malta, Egypt and Mexico, the company said.
The Korean firm was set to manufacture about 17,000 reverse osmosis filters at its Cheongju, factory by the end of 2016 – enough, it claimed, to filter 200,000 tonnes of seawater daily.
“The latest deal will pave the way for LG Chem to increase the company’s footprint in other countries. LG aims for 10 percent of the global RO filter market share by 2020,” said a company spokesman. LG Chem said planned to establish its global presence in the water purification industry through deals with 17 more countries, including the United Arab Emirates, Singapore and Spain.
“This large-scale exclusive deal proves our global competitiveness in RO filter production,” said LG Chem vice chairman, Park Jin Soo. “We will continue to invest in related research and development to become a top-tier player in the field,” he added.
LG Chem said the move into reverse osmosis membranes was part of a diversification strategy as a hedge against risk in the chemical sector.
The latest collection of orders make up LG Chem’s biggest reverse osmosis filter deal since it completed construction of its US$ 35 billion Cheongju factory in August.
The orders, according to LG Chem, were the result of increasing demand for water treatment equipment that drove a 10% hike in reverse osmosis filter sales to 1.2 trillion won (US$ 1.1 trillion) in 2014 and is expected to increase to 1.8 trillion won (US$ 1.6 trillion) by 2018.
LG Chem entered the water treatment industry when it acquired the US-based startup NanoH20 in April 2014. The acquisition enabled LG Chem to secure patents for developing reverse osmosis filters for industrial and commercial purposes.