“We entered the U.S. market this year and plan to export our HTPB products to the market next year”

Samyang Fine Chemical Co., Ltd. is a company that specializes in manufacturing and exporting Hydroxyl Terminated Polybutadiene (HTPB), a binder of solid propellant for the defense industry. Samyang Fine Chemical, which possesses customized global top-level technology, has confirmed its entry into the U.S. market this year and plans to export in 2025. It is expected that its entry into the United States, which possesses advanced HTPB source technology, will provide wings for its future global market development. We met with CEO Oh Kwang-sei to hear more about the company’s overall structure and future development strategies.

Please briefly introduce your company
Yes, certainly. We are a defense company that specializes in producing binders for solid propellants, which are the essential products for the future of K-defense. Recently, as the importance of independent national defense has been emphasized worldwide, the demand for guided weapons that use solid propellants as fuel, such as medium and long-range missiles, has been rapidly increasing. As a result, exports of the main products have also been growing significantly. Based on our consecutive R&D and accumulated experience, we obtained the highest level of defense technology.
We have recently shared with all employees our slogan, Go to the World & Space! We are eager to expand to the civilian solid propellants for the aerospace industry as a company that supplies advanced materials. At the same time, our company produces fine chemical products such as pharmaceutical intermediates, cosmetic ingredients, and functional additives of electronic materials.

In 2023, Samyang Fine Chemical was selected as one of the 1,000+ global powerhouses by the Gyeongnam Regional SMEs and Startups Office. What is the background to this selection?
In the defense industry of solid propellants, we have unique technologies and innovative products.
So, we have been achieveing goals continuously.
We believe that the company has the good presence through the growth in the international market, global networking, the increase of the export portion. Additionally, it includes that the positive evalution results such as, stable financial structure, excellent local job creation.

Please tell us about your main export products
We would like to introduce HTPB and it is our presentative product and exporting to overseas.
HTPB is the key material for building solid propellant motors. The product is used as an energy source for solid propellant medium and long-range guided weapons and satellite launch vehicles. Solid propellants consisted of oxidizer powder, metal powder, and binder. The binder, which holds other materials together to form, is a viscous liquid. HTPB is a binder agent applying to solid propellant. It is very important for the performance of solid propellant, so that HTPB requires a strict quality control.
As a result of the relentless R&D, we obtained know-how for a wide range of products with specs. We can support to supply tailored products to domestic and international clients, so we fulfill their needs.

What markets were impressive during the overseas market development process in 2024?
We have been exporting HTPB to friendly countries and alliances successfully for a long time. In 2024, we eventaully entered the US market.
The states has the original production technology of HTPB and it makes us hard to do sales there. However, we got an outstanding score from the quality evaluation, so we are planning to export the product to the US in 2025.
We expect that entering the U.S. market will be of great help in the quality evaluation of our company’s products for future export consultations in the global market.

What will be your mid- to long-term development strategy for gradual growth in the global market?
Recently, as the excellence of K-defense has been proven, export opportunities are increasing for small and medium size companies like us, along with exports by leading domestic defense companies.
In the mid to long-term, we will pursue entry into new markets through market diversification, utilize digital platforms to actively promote products online, and cooperate with government agencies to overcome local networks and market entry barriers.
We also have a plan to strengthen global brand awareness, and respond quickly to changes in regulations and trade policies in each country ― in order to comply with regulations and ensure transparency and consistency.

Lastly, are there any messages you would like to convey to potential overseas customers?
Our main products have already taken credits for high-qaulity and excellence from the several advanced countries. We have optimized facilities and it allows us to provide a variety of clients with tailored productions.
In particular, we have optimized the production technologies and patents of HTPB, the solid propellant binder, as well as Glycidyl Azide Polymer (GAP), an energy binder that has been the subject of much research recently to improve the energy performance of propellants. We also developed Polyepichlorohydrin (PECH), its precursor, through our own R&D. We are currently pursuing new markets.
Most of these solid propellant binders are classified as strategic materials, and there is an issue of unstable supply and demand due to import and export regulations, but we have the ability and experience to supply various types of binders with the best quality and in a timely manner.
We do our best to become a trustworthy partner for international clients. Thank you!

Polymers
Binders for the solid propellant for both military and commercial rocket systems
Energetic polymers to be used for the solid propellant of military applications
Polyols applied for the Photocurable coating and adhesive industry
Functional polymers for construction
Advanced nano materials

Fine Chemicals
Cosmetic Ingredients such as UV-protect and whitening agents
Pharmaceutical Intermediates
Functional additives of electronic materials
Plasticizers

 
 
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