Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) and Lotte Group have set up an industry-academia cooperation hub to jointly pursue work from R&D to commercialisation to address sustainability issues. KAIST said it held a completion ceremony for the \'Lotte x KAIST R&D Center\' at its Daejeon campus on Sept. 11. The centre was built using a 10 billion won construction donation from Lotte and KAIST funds, and will focus on bio sustainability, carbon-neutral energy, materials and processes, and advanced food and healthcare.

Lotte Chemical posted second-quarter operating profit of 110.1 billion won on revenue of 5.69 trillion won, returning to profit from a year earlier. Revenue rose 39.2 percent and operating margin improved to 1.9 percent. The company cited production optimisation and profitability-focused operations amid supply chain uncertainty. Advanced materials posted 132.5 billion won operating profit. The firm is pursuing restructuring centred on its Daesan and Yeosu plants and advancing a Yulchon compounding plant.