Aju Business Daily

SEOUL -- SK Energy, a top oil company in South Korea, set up an asphalt joint venture based in Hangzhou, the capital of China's Zhejiang province, with the goal of becoming a major asphalt marketing company in the world's largest asphalt market.

SK Energy, an arm of South Korea's SK Group, said Friday that it would own 49 percent of the joint venture while the remainder will be controlled by Zhejiang Baoying, a buyer and Importer of petroleum coke, bitumen and other materials. The joint venture will help SK Energy secure stable sales destinations for asphalt products.

"This joint venture is another growth plate created by SK Energy's global growth strategy," said SK Energy CEO Cho Kyong-mok. China is the world's largest consumer of asphalt. SK Energy plans to expand the annual supply of asphalt in China from one million tons to two million tons by 2023 and three million tons by 2029.

SK Energy has invested in asphalt-related joint ventures in China. In 2010, the company created a local corporation in Shanghai to strengthen its marketing capabilities in the Chinese market and establish a total value chain encompassing production, trading and sales.