South Korea’s biggest chemicals manufacturer, LG Chem, is planning to spend 491 billion (US$455 million) on its first polysilicon plant as it looks to take its first step into the PV industry.

The facility, located in Yeosu in southwest Korea, will have the capacity to produce 5,000 metric tonnes of polysilicon per year. LG Chem’s board approved the construction plan on Thursday and it has penciled in a completion date of late 2013.

When completed, LG Chem will join OCI, Woongjin Polysilicon, Hankook Silicon and KCC as South Korea’s fifth polysilicon plant owner. Hanwha Chem has also recently announced plans to build a facility.

On April 19, LG Chem chief executive officer Kim Bahn Suk first told investors in Seoul that his company was preparing to move into the polysilicon industry and would be using its own technology, which it believed could make it cost competitive with existing firms in the Korean market.