The company's name is an initialism of its former corporate name, Oriental Chemical Industries (Korean: 동양화학공업; Hanja: 東洋化學工業; RR: Dongyang Hwahak Gongeop).

The main products of OCI include polycrystalline silicon, hydrogen peroxide, fumed silica, coal tar pitch, BTX, and other chemical related materials.

[1] OCI was founded by Lee Hoi-rim as Oriental Chemical Industries in 1959.

OCI was the first company to establish a soda ash factory and boosted the alkali industry in South Korea.

However, after eight years, DC Chemical was reverted to OCI with the acronym of its original name.