Kumho R&D Plans

Kumho Petrochemical boosts R&D spending despite downturn, targets high-value and eco-friendly materials

Sep 21, 2026, 09:53 am

A view of Kumho Petrochemical’s Ulsan rubber plant. / Kumho Petrochemical

Kumho Petrochemical Group is turning to research and development to weather the prolonged downturn in the petrochemical industry. Rather than expanding output of commodity products, the group plans to increase the share of high-value specialty and eco-friendly materials while broadening research into new areas such as next-generation batteries to secure both profitability and future growth.

According to Kumho Petrochemical Group on Sept. 21, major affiliates including Kumho Petrochemical, Kumho P&B Chemicals, Kumho Mitsui Chemicals and Kumho Polychem are concentrating their R&D capabilities on upgrading existing core products, developing eco-friendly processes and advancing materials for future mobility.

Kumho Petrochemical is strengthening its competitiveness in high-performance synthetic rubber, particularly solution styrene-butadiene rubber, or SSBR, used in tires for electric vehicles and other applications. The company completed a 35,000-ton capacity expansion last year and began commercial production. SSBR improves tire durability, fuel efficiency and wear performance, and demand is expected to rise alongside growth in the electric vehicle market.

In the environmental sector, the company has built carbon capture, utilization and storage facilities capable of capturing about 76,000 tons of carbon dioxide annually. It has also developed technology to convert recycled ABS recovered from discarded home appliances into materials for automotive interiors. The company expects the material to meet automotive standards for heat resistance and impact strength while reducing carbon emissions by about 16%.

Kumho Petrochemical is also expanding beyond conventional petrochemicals into battery materials. The company is participating with POSCO Future M and BEI in the development of next-generation anode-free lithium-metal batteries.

Kumho P&B Chemicals is expanding its eco-friendly product lineup centered on epoxy. The company is developing waterborne epoxy products to reduce volatile organic compound emissions and low-carbon epoxy technologies using bio-based feedstocks. It plans to combine equipment investment with certification efforts to meet demand for eco-friendly materials in construction, shipbuilding, electrical and electronics industries.

Kumho Mitsui Chemicals is pursuing higher-value products while expanding production capacity for methylene diphenyl diisocyanate, or MDI, a key raw material for polyurethane. From December last year through the end of this year, the company is carrying out a 100,000-ton annual debottlenecking investment that will raise total capacity to 710,000 tons. It is also developing bio-content polyurethane systems, lightweight materials for automotive seats and products for high-performance sound absorption.

Kumho Polychem is focusing on increasing the value of ethylene propylene diene monomer, or EPDM, a specialty synthetic rubber. With the recent addition of a fifth production line with annual capacity of 70,000 tons, the company has established a total annual production system of 310,000 tons. It has also improved productivity and quality stability by applying ultra-low-temperature polymerization technology.

The company is also improving production processes to reduce energy use and carbon emissions, including the introduction of low-pressure chillers and waste-heat recovery systems.

Going forward, Kumho Polychem plans to expand its product lineup into materials that reduce EV driving noise, lightweight materials and thermal-conductive and insulating materials. The aim is to broaden its business from conventional products for automotive parts, hoses and cables into high-value materials for eco-friendly mobility.

Kumho Petrochemical Group plans to reduce its dependence on petrochemical market cycles by strengthening the technological competitiveness of core products such as SSBR, epoxy, MDI and EPDM while expanding its R&D scope into recycled materials, carbon reduction and next-generation batteries.

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