- In October 2024, Honeywell plans to spin off its Advanced Materials business into a standalone, publicly traded company by late 2025 or early 2026, aligning with its strategic focus on automation, aviation, and energy transition. The move will streamline Honeywell’s portfolio while enabling the new entity to drive innovation in specialty chemicals, including electronic-grade sulfuric acid—crucial for semiconductor manufacturing—by providing it with greater strategic focus and financial flexibility
- In August 2022, Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, announced a definitive agreement to acquire the chemical business of Mecaro Co. Ltd., a Korean maker of semiconductor precursors. This strategic move, part of Merck’s Euro 3 billion “Level Up” growth program, enhances its Semiconductor Solutions portfolio. The acquisition includes a production facility in Eumseong and an R&D lab in Daejeon, supporting Merck’s localization and capacity expansion efforts in South Korea’s semiconductor sector
- In July 2024, NES Materials, a Namhae Chemical subsidiary, supplied a prototype of high-purity sulfuric acid to Samsung for chip production testing. NES, a joint venture with ENF Technology and Samsung C&T, completed its factory in 2023, with an annual capacity of 54,000 metric tonnes—18% of South Korea’s total output. The acid is produced using SO₃ by-product from Namhae's fertilizer production. Commercial production is expected to begin by late 2024 or early 2025, positioning Namhae to compete with Korea Zinc and others
