LOTTE Energy Materials announced on the 10th that it posted sales of 143.7 billion won and an operating loss of 34.3 billion won in the third quarter of this year. As the North American electric vehicle market slowed sharply due to factors such as the elimination of U.S. electric vehicle subsidies, sales of electric-vehicle products to key clients fell, delaying a recovery in utilization and leading to a quarter-over-quarter decline in revenue.
However, the company projected that in the fourth quarter of this year, demand for circuit foil products will increase as global big tech corporations ramp up investments in artificial intelligence (AI) data centers, and that demand for battery foil in North America will also grow as domestic battery clients expand their energy storage system (ESS) businesses.
Accordingly, LOTTE Energy Materials plans to overcome the electric-vehicle "chasm" (temporary demand stagnation) based on its circuit foil business. A LOTTE Energy Materials official said, "High value-added circuit foil for AI is expected to see strong growth in related materials, parts and equipment industries as the global AI data center market expands," adding, "Numerous clients at home and abroad are asking us to expand capacity for AI circuit foil, and clients' order volume for 2026 already exceeds our current production capacity."
LOTTE Energy Materials will convert the battery foil line at the Iksan plant into an AI circuit foil line, and plans to expand AI circuit foil production capacity to 1.7 times the current level in 2026 and 5.7 times in 2028. The Iksan plant is Korea's only circuit foil plant and produces circuit foil that meets the physical properties of low signal transmission loss in copper foil for ultra-high-speed data processing at AI data centers.
LOTTE Energy Materials will also strengthen collaboration with existing clients and actively seek new clients based on the technical differentiation of copper foil for ESS use, in line with domestic battery clients' expansion into the North American ESS market.
Chief Executive Kim Yeon-seop of LOTTE Energy Materials said, "By shifting our product portfolio to high value-added circuit foil for AI and battery foil for ESS, we will respond quickly to market uncertainty and rapidly secure future growth opportunities."