SK Innovation, South Korea’s top oil refiner, has shifted the focus of its business to the chemical sector, securing a stable profit generator, the company said Thursday.

The firm’s chemical business posted 284.8 billion won ($253.8 million) in operating profit, accounting for some 40 percent of its total earnings in the first quarter of this year, the company’s figures showed.

Its chemical business looks set to surpass 1 trillion won in operating profit this year for the third consecutive year.

SK Innovation's chemical plant in Incheon (SK Innovation)

Calling the shift in profit structure “deep change,” SK Innovation said it has gained a profit model and business structure that will enable the firm to post stable performance in the midst of unpredictable international oil prices and instability in the oil refinery industry.

To achieve stabilized earnings in the chemical business, SK Innovation has invested 1.6 trillion won in revamping the oil refining-centered SK Energy complex in Incheon to be chemical centered, the company said.

The firm also spent 936.3 billion won on Ulsan Aromatic Corp., jointly set up with Japan’s leading energy firm JXTG in 2014, pulling up its p-xylene production capacity to No. 1 here and No. 6 worldwide.

P-xylene is a used to make plastic containers, polyester fiber and synthetic fiber. 

By Kim Bo-gyung (lisakim425@heraldcorp.com)