Producer
ISU Chemical
South Korean integrated LAB and LABSA producer; sole domestic Korean producer of normal paraffins (NP) — making ISU uniquely self-sufficient from kerosene NP all the way through sulfonation. Plants at Ulsan and Onsan (Ulsan metropolitan area, South Korea's petrochemical hub). Capacity: ~140,000 MT/year LAB after four successive expansions from original 20,000 MT. Major supplier to Korean detergent industry and Asia-Pacific export markets. One of the few non-Chinese, non-European integrated NP→LAB→LABSA producers.
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Facilities
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Stories
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1 input ISU Chemical supplies
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Normal Paraffins (NP)
30%LAB (Linear Alkylbenzene)
38%LABSA & Surfactants
22%Chemical Distribution & Other
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Intelligence
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Did you know2022
ISU Chemical (Ulsan, South Korea) — the same company that produces IPA and LABSA for European surface disinfectant manufacturers — also produces NMP (N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone), the primary solvent for lithium-ion battery electrode slurry coating in EV battery production. NMP is applied to copper and aluminum foil in the EV battery cathode manufacturing process; it must then be recovered and recycled at enormous cost. ISU Chemical is therefore simultaneously a supplier to the disinfectant supply chain AND to the EV battery supply chain — two industries the world is rapidly scaling, from the same Ulsan, South Korea facilities.
KBR (engineering & technology company) ↗Origin2023
ISU Chemical is the specialty chemicals arm of the ISU Group — a South Korean conglomerate founded in the 1970s. ISU Chemical built Korea's only integrated NP-to-LAB-to-LABSA chain at Ulsan, the center of South Korea's petrochemical industry. ISU Group also controls ISU Petasys, a major Korean manufacturer of high-frequency PCBs (printed circuit boards) used in 5G base stations and automotive electronics — meaning the same Korean family conglomerate spans both detergent surfactant intermediates and high-tech electronics substrates, two supply chains with zero obvious connection.
ISU Chemical ↗