LG Chem Ltd. (Korean: LG화학), often referred to as LG Chemical, is the largest Korean chemical company[1] and is headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. It was the 10th largest chemical company in the world by sales in 2017.[citation needed] It was first established as the Lucky Chemical Industrial Corporation, which manufactured cosmetics. It is now solely a business-to-business company (consumer products division was spun off into LG Household & Health Care).
The company has eight factories in South Korea and a network of 29 business locations in 15 countries. This network includes a holding company in China, 14 overseas manufacturing subsidiaries, five marketing subsidiaries, seven representative offices, and two R&D centers.[citation needed] The Financial Times reported on April 2, 2017, that LG Chem would be expanding battery production in China. At the time, China accounted for one-third of the company’s total sales.[2] In April 2019, LG Chem sued rival SK Innovation for allegedly stealing trade secrets for manufacturing electric vehicle batteries.[3]