SK Innovation Co., the holding company of South Korea’s top refiner SK Energy Co., said Monday it launched two subsidiary units, SK Incheon Petrochem and SK Trading International, in order to combat the rapidly changing global business environment.

Last May, SK Innovation decided to spin off its Incheon refinery complex and oil trading division into two respective entities.

SK Incheon Petrochem will spend 1.6 trillion won ($1.4 billion) on the expansion of its plants for the production of higher value-added petrochemicals, including paraxylene, to tap the Chinese petrochemical market by attracting foreign capital, the holding company said.

SK Trading International plans to grow into a global petrochemical trading company on the basis of its trading business affiliated with SK Energy, SK Innovation said.

The launch of the two subsidiaries has increased the number of the holding company’s subsidiaries to five from three, which are SK Energy Co., SK Global Chemical Co. and SK Lubricants Co. (Yonhap News)