l KCFT, the world’s No.1 EV battery copper foil manufacturer ∙∙∙ SKC strengthens its growth engine

l SKC becomes the sole owner-investor of KCFT …. Plans to enter global markets to respond rapidly to customer demand

KCFT, the world’s No.1 manufacturer of copper foil, a core material for EV batteries, is restarting as a wholly-owned subsidiary of SKC (President Lee Wan-jae). As such, SKC is now in a more advantageous position to expand its mobility business, and will accelerate what it calls the “Deep Change.”

By January 7, SKC will pay up KCFT’s shares, thereby concluding the takeover procedure and becoming the sole owner-investor of KCFT. SKC has taken steps to complete the takeover procedure - including the report on business combination both in and out of the country - since announcing the takeover on June 13, 2019.

Copper foil, a core component of secondary battery cathodes, is made by a sophisticated production process. Essentially, the thinner the battery copper foil, the more cathode-active materials can be inserted into a battery. This means that a company capable of manufacturing a thinner copper foil will find itself in a more advantageous position to make high-capacity, lightweight batteries.

KCFT boasts the world’s best technological prowess and productivity in the production of secondary battery copper foil. In October 2019, it demonstrated its sheer prowess by successfully producing a 30-kilometer-long roll of ultra-thin (4㎛ thick) copper foil with a width of 1.4 meters, which is the longest piece of copper coil ever made. SKC intends to develop and supply ever thinner and better copper foil products by combining the know-how in film production it has accumulated over the past forty years with KCFT’s technological prowess.

SKC plans to enhance its production capacity in copper foil to keep pace with the rapidly growing battery market, as the current supply of copper foil cannot keep up with the rapidly rising demand. KCFT plans to enhance its copper foil production capacity four-fold by 2025, and to expand its fifth factory in Jeongeup, with the aim of increasing its production capacity to 10,000 tons by the first half of 2021. To that end, it signed an investment agreement with the city of Jeongeup and Jeollabuk-Do Office in October 2019.

KCFT is considering making forays into global markets, and expects to respond to local customers’ needs more rapidly by operating in the United States, Europe, and China. As SKC’s existing facilities in those countries have extra sites, the takeover will provide synergistic effects.

With the takeover, SKC has put itself in a more advantageous position to carry out its mobility business, which it regards as its future growth engine. The company has continued making efforts to improve its ways of operation by combining market insights with its technological prowess under the vision of becoming a “Global Specialty MARKETER” which it announced in 2016.

Commenting on the takeover of KCFT, an SKC executive said, “We have strived to bring about “Deep Change” with the focus on mobility, semiconductors, displays, and pro-environment. Together with KCFT, we will expand our mobility business, upgrade the competitiveness of the domestic materials sector, and work to further improve the wellbeing of our employees.”

[A view of the KCFT factory in Jeongeup, Jeonbuk Province]

[The ultra-thin (4㎛ thick) copper foil for batteries which KCFT has succeeded in mass producing ahead of its rivals]