GS Caltex, Nippon Oil to build joint carbon plant

GS Caltex has stepped into the high-value-added carbon materials business together with a leading Japanese energy firm. Company Chairman Hur Dong-soo signed a memorandum of understanding with EVP Makoto Satani of Japans Nippon Oil in Seoul. The two firms will build a joint venture to produce carbon materials, the key material in the electrodes of supercapacitors, seen as the next-generation in energy storage devices. No Korean company yet produces carbon materials and all supplies are currently imported from Japan. The two firms will invest US$100 million in the joint venture to be located in Gumi, North Gyeongsang Province, with an aim to start mass production from 2010 and expand capacity to 900 tons by 2015. (July 3/5, 2008)