LG Chem invests $9.7B in chip, mobility, robotics materials

LG Chem CEO Kim Dong-choon announced on June 22, 2026 that the company will invest 15 trillion won ($9.7 billion) in research and development through 2035, with roughly 70 percent of that budget directed toward semiconductor, mobility, and robotics materials. The announcement was made at a company-wide town hall meeting, per Korea Herald and Korea Times reporting.

LG Chem cites slowing profitability in traditional chemistry businesses due to global oversupply and intensifying competition as the primary motivation for pivoting toward high-value-added sectors. The company will focus existing strengths and customer relationships to expand into AI chip materials, autonomous mobility components, and robotic structural and drive materials.

In semiconductors, LG Chem will focus on advanced packaging materials -- packaging adhesives, PID, DAF, and CCL -- targeting 2 trillion won (~$1.3 billion) in electronic materials revenue by 2030. In mobility and robotics, the company is expanding into robot structural materials and precision drive and joining materials. The oncology therapeutics pipeline, supported by global clinical trials and M&A, is a separate fourth pillar of the growth plan.

Materials for advanced semiconductor packaging are a constrained input for AI accelerator production. LG Chem's committed R&D spend signals that a major established industrial player is repositioning capacity toward AI hardware supply chains, adding a Korean conglomerate to the group of materials suppliers scaling up for expected AI-driven chip demand through the 2030s.

"LG Chem will reinforce the competitiveness of its existing business areas and focus its capabilities in future growth sectors such as semiconductors and robotics materials," Kim said, per Korea Herald.