Producer
Kolon Industries Inc.
South Korean chemical company (KRX: 120110), subsidiary of Kolon Group (Gwacheon, Gyeonggi). Produces Heracron para-aramid yarn at an integrated Gumi plant (North Gyeongsang Province). Doubled capacity from 7,500 to 15,310 tons/year in 2024 (KRW 300B / ~$221M investment). Also added aramid pulp expansion (1,500 to 3,000 tons/year). Exports grew +31% in Jan–May 2025, driven by China 5G buildout and AI data center optical fiber demand. Emerged from a landmark trade secret dispute with DuPont (2009-2015) that cost Kolon $360M in settlements. Third-largest global para-aramid producer at ~11-12% market share.
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Heracron Para-Aramid Fiber
40%Industrial Films & Materials
35%Other Performance Materials
25%
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Incident2015
In 2009, DuPont sued Kolon Industries for stealing Kevlar trade secrets. A former DuPont employee (Michael Mitchell) had retained 149 confidential files on his home computer and shared them with Kolon. Mitchell pleaded guilty and received an 18-month prison sentence. In 2011, a jury awarded DuPont $919.9 million — one of the largest trade secret verdicts in US history. After years of appeals, Kolon settled in April 2015 for $275M civil + $85M criminal fine = $360M total. The case established Kolon's entire Heracron process as tainted by trade secret theft; Kolon was banned from selling Heracron in the US during litigation. It is now one of the world's three largest para-aramid producers.
PRNewswire / DuPont ↗Origin2013
Kolon Industries' entry into para-aramid fiber (Heracron brand) became one of the most prominent trade secret theft cases in US industrial history. In 2012, DuPont sued Kolon Industries for $920 million, alleging that Kolon had received stolen Kevlar trade secrets from a former DuPont employee who downloaded proprietary manufacturing information before leaving to join Kolon's advisory. A US court found Kolon guilty; Kolon appealed and eventually settled for $275 million. The case highlighted that developing para-aramid fiber technology from scratch requires decades of R&D, and the temptation to shortcut that development by accessing competitors' proprietary process information is commercially rational if not legally defensible. Kolon was not banned from the market -- it continued producing Heracron -- but the litigation demonstrated that the global aramid fiber supply chain is partly shaped by IP enforcement and trade secret law as much as by conventional market competition.
Reuters ↗