“Celebrating our 20th anniversary shouldn’t end with self-congratulating our achievements of the past 20 years. Our lengthy history affords us a starting point for our next 20 years.”

At a ceremony held on October 28 at Huvis’s Jeonju plant to mark the 20th anniversary of the company's founding, Huvis CEO Shin, You Dong expressed ambitions to further strengthen the competitiveness of the company's existing businesses and actively pursue mergers and acquisitions and new business projects for future food in a bid to achieve continuous growth in the global market. Keeping with the South Korean government's COVID-19 prevention guidelines, the ceremony took place in a pared-down, smaller form, with the attendance of fewer than 50 people.

Huvis (CEO Shin, You Dong, 079980), a joint-stock company in the chemical fiber sector founded by Samyang and SK Chemicals, celebrates the 20th anniversary of its founding on November 1. In his speech of thanks, CEO Shin stated, “We've managed to grow into a well-established company despite many difficulties and ups and downs, and at the heart of that achievement lies the dedication, efforts and help of our clients, stakeholders, partner companies and employees.”

In the late 1990s, in a bid to overcome the IMF (foreign currency) crisis and financial difficulties resulting from insufficient demand and oversupply in the chemical fiber industry, Samyang and SK Chemicals decided to separate their respective polyester chemical fiber divisions and establish a 50-50 joint venture, and as a result, Huvis was founded in 2000. 

After its establishment, harnessing the great synergy stemming from efficient management and economy of scale, Huvis became to be known as South Korea’s first successful case of private sector self-restructuring. In the mid-2000s, Huvis suffered a brief spell of hardship due to a new economic downturn, but the company managed to achieve a turn-around in 2008. In 2009, the company even succeeded in making its Chinese subsidiary “Sichuan Huvis” turn a profit, and after being listed on South Korea’s securities exchanges in 2012, it made continued investments in new growth engine projects for future food. 

In July this year, the company completed the integration of its business sites involving the transfer of the facilities of its Ulsan plant to its Jeonju plant, thereby increasing its operational efficiency and cost competitiveness. Furthermore, based on a glocalization strategy of establishing production facilities in regions with an existing market, the company established a low-melting fiber production plant in the U.S. and an eco-pet production plant in China, both in the form of a joint venture, as part of its continued inroads into international markets.

CEO Shin, You Dong said, “To meet increasingly diversified client needs, we are required to put values associated with the environment and health into our products. To this end, we plan to make aggressive investments in facilities, R&D and new projects.” Regarding that, he told the attendees, “I ask all Huvis executives and employees to establish a practical and performance-oriented organizational culture based on global capabilities.” 

To archive its 20-year history, Huvis has built the “20th Anniversary e-History Hall,” which features a comprehensive history of the company, 10 success stories and commemorative videos, and the e-history hall is scheduled to launch on November 2 on the company's official website (www.huvis.com).

 
▲ (Left) Huvis CEO Shin, You Dong (center) and employees cut a celebration cake.
▲ (Right) Huvis CEO Shin, You Dong gives a commemorative speech at a ceremony held on October 28 at Huvis’s Jeonju plant to mark the 20th anniversary of the company's founding, October 28.