Kumho Petrochemical Earns A Rating in MSCI ESG Evaluation

Upgraded from BBB to A Rating This Year
Positive Assessment for Chemical Management and Board Independence

Kumho Petrochemical announced on June 10 that it has received an A rating in the Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) ESG evaluation, an improvement of one notch compared to last year.

Exterior view of Kumho Petrochemical headquarters. Kumho Petrochemical

The MSCI ESG evaluation assigns ratings from 'AAA' to 'CCC' to more than 17,000 issuers and over 990,000 stocks and bonds worldwide, based on the level of ESG risk exposure and risk management capabilities compared to industry peers.

In March of this year, the evaluation model was revised to place greater emphasis on factors such as financial materiality, quantitative data performance, and supply chain risk management.

This year, Kumho Petrochemical’s score in the social category improved thanks to the implementation of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) for its products and independent third-party verification that ensured objectivity and reliability.

In the governance category, the company was positively assessed for operating a board of directors that is independent from management and other stakeholders, and for forming all key committees entirely of outside directors.

Additionally, Kumho Petrochemical was included for the fourth consecutive year in the DJBIC Korea Index. The DJBIC Korea Index is compiled by selecting Korean companies with outstanding ESG performance based on the results of the CSA, conducted annually by S&P Global.

Based on last year’s evaluation results, 75 companies with excellent ESG performance were selected from among the top 200 Korean firms by market capitalization, and Kumho Petrochemical was chosen as one of seven companies in the chemical sector.

Paek Jonghoon, CEO of Kumho Petrochemical, stated, “This upgraded rating is the result of our stable internalization of ESG management,” adding, “We will continue to ensure objective data management and transparent governance operations in the future.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.