The copper foil industry, continuing its streak of deficits, is striving hard for a rebound in performance. Major corporations such as LOTTE Energy Materials and Solus Advanced Materials are focusing on increasing their customer base overseas, particularly in North America and Europe, or restructuring their businesses.
According to the industry on the 27th, LOTTE Energy Materials, a subsidiary of LOTTE Chemical, is accelerating the establishment of factories in the United States. LOTTE Energy Materials had previously pushed for the establishment of a factory in the U.S. by selecting a site by the end of last year but temporarily halted due to growing market uncertainties.
The reason for resuming the establishment of U.S. factories is that demand for energy storage systems (ESS) has increased, particularly in North America, and local production requests from customers have continued amid tariff pressures.
LOTTE Energy Materials intends to expand its influence in the North American market to aim for a recovery in profitability. The operating loss for the second quarter of this year was reported at 31.1 billion won. Although the loss narrowed compared to the previous quarter (46 billion won), the company has sustained losses for four consecutive quarters since the third quarter of last year.
Efforts are also being made to secure new customers in Europe and China. Specific customers have not been disclosed, but the Chinese customer is believed to be CATL, the world's largest battery manufacturer. Supply is expected to begin as early as the fourth quarter, and products are likely to be supplied to the European factories being built by CATL in Hungary and Spain.
Solus Advanced Materials, which reported a larger deficit in the second quarter of this year, has also begun expanding its customer base in Europe and North America. By the end of the year, it plans to increase its existing customer base from four to eight. In the first half of the year, a new supply contract was signed with Chinese CATL, and an additional supply contract was concluded with European ACC (a joint battery company involving Stellantis, Mercedes-Benz, etc.).
Earlier this month, Solus Advanced Materials sold its copper foil factory in Luxembourg to the Chinese copper manufacturer Defoquqi. This move aims to secure investment resources by liquidating non-core overseas assets. Solus Advanced Materials is establishing a copper foil factory for electric vehicle batteries in Quebec, Canada, to target the North American market.
SK Nexilis has signed a new supply contract worth 1 trillion won with customers in China and Japan, and it is working to raise the operating rate centered around its factory in Malaysia. The average operating rate of SK Nexilis factories in the first half of this year was 58.6%, an improvement from the end of last year's 34.3%. SK Nexilis anticipates that the operating rate will continue to improve.
Due to poor performance in the SK Nexilis segment, SKC has sustained losses for 11 consecutive quarters, with a deficit of 70.2 billion won in the second quarter. SK Nexilis recorded an operating loss of 38.1 billion won in the second quarter, following a loss of 34.6 billion won in the first quarter of this year.