Stainless comprehensive materials company (plate, bar, wire rod) Tplex achieved its largest quarterly results in three years.
According to the Financial Supervisory Service's electronic disclosure system on the 15th, Tplex posted first-quarter revenue of 63.94 billion won and operating profit of 2.36 billion won this year. Revenue rose 26% and operating profit jumped 186% from a year earlier. Revenue was the highest in three years since 69 billion won in the second quarter of 2023. Net profit also surged 163% to 1.34 billion won from 500 million won a year earlier.
Tplex said the improved results were driven by increased inventory demand due to rising raw material prices for nickel, tungsten, and rare earths, and higher materials supply on the back of an upturn in front-end industries such as semiconductors, defense, shipbuilding, and nuclear power valves.
A Tplex official said, "This year as well, we will defensively and expansively hold the market in the bar and wire rod segments, where we rank No. 1 in market share, and we will extend the uptrend by expanding the plate segment—our POSCO-affiliated coil center—around real demand."
Based on a customer base of about 1,800 companies, Tplex was reclassified as a mid-sized company in April last year. At the end of the year, it was newly selected as a designated military service company (industrial service).
Tplex is one of the eight stainless steel (STS) designated and partner processing centers selected by POSCO and is a partner of Seah Changwon Integrated Special Steel. Its domestically produced stainless bar products held a 31.4% market share in the first half, and the wire rod segment also maintained a top-tier position with a share of about 24%.
As High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) emerges this year as the core of artificial intelligence (AI) semiconductor competitiveness, facility investments by Samsung Electronics and SK hynix are expected to expand, raw material (nickel) unit prices to rise, and front-end industries such as semiconductors, shipbuilding, and nuclear power valves to pick up.
Kim Tae-seop, CEO of Tplex, said, "Going forward, we are preparing a long-term plan to upgrade into a comprehensive materials company by expanding facility investments based on stainless materials and adding new business items." This year's sales target was set at 230 billion won, more than 10% higher than last year.