• SKC
  announced its new plan at ‘SKC Investor Day’ to embark on new businesses such
  as anode secondary battery materials and high-tech semiconductor materials

• By
  2025, SKC to rise as the world’s largest mobility materials company with
  corporate values more than five times as big as they are now   

   

SKC (CEO Lee
Wan-jae) will complete its business transformation, centered on mobility
materials such as rechargeable batteries and semiconductors, and rise as a
global mobility materials company by 2025. To that end, SKC has embarked on new
materials businesses, such as next-generation anode materials and cathode
materials for secondary batteries, and the world's first high-performance
computing glass substrate.

At the ‘SKC
Investor Day’ held on the September 24th, SKC’s chief executive Lee Wan-jae
made a presentation en_ title_d ‘Promises and Deep Change’ as its Financial Story
intended to share the company’s growth strategies for the next five years, in
which the CEO declared that SKC will ‘rise’ as the world’s No. 1 mobility
materials company with corporate values of KRW 30 trillion by 2025 and that to
that end, the company will shift the focus of its business structure to
mobility materials from which to _ create_ more than 80% of its corporate profits
by the target year.

The key to
boosting SKC’s corporate values is rechargeable battery materials. In the
copper foil business, which has emerged as one of its new growth engines, SKC
has decided to increase its total output to 250,000 tons a year by aggressively
expanding its overseas facilities to roll out 50,000 tons in Malaysia, 100,000
tons in Europe, and 50,000 tons in the US. SKC estimates that it will become a
dominant p_ layer_ in the sector with its global market share of at least 35% by
2025. The findings of a market research institute indicate that as of the first
quarter of 2021, SK nexilis is the global leader with a market share of 22%
demonstrating an upward trend.

In addition, SKC
will expand into the new materials business that can significantly improve the
performance of secondary batteries, such as silicon anode materials and high nickel
cathode materials. It will also join forces with those with global top-level
silicon technology to secure anode materials technology and develop it into one
of its core businesses. SKC is planning to promote the commercialization of
cathode materials in cooperation with global companies. SKC’s goal is to expand
its sales of secondary batteries including copper foil to KRW 4 trillion, or 10
times as large as its current sales, by 2025.

SKC expands its
semiconductor materials business, one of the two pillars of its mobility
materials business, to new high-tech products. On top of to its full-fledged
CMP pad and blank mask business, the company is going to promote the world's
first glass substrate for high-performance computing as one of its new growth engines,
with the expectation that its total sales in semiconductor materials business
will grow to more than KRW 2 trillion by 2025.

When SKC’s glass
substrate is applied instead of conventional plastic, the thickness of
semiconductor package along with the associated power consumption is reduced by
more than half while data throughput dramatically rises. The required area for
a data center is reduced to a mere 20% of the current requirement. SKC has been
developing new products in the area together with 70 partner companies since
2018 and as a result, has acquired prototype certification from a global semiconductor manufacturer. The company is
now promoting the commercialization of the products with global semiconductor
equipment companies and major clients.

SKC will also
expand the breadth of its eco-friendly materials business, in which it boasts
outstanding competitiveness: It will upgrade the existing film and chemical
businesses with a focus on ESG; In chemical business, it will expand high
value-added PG and bio-polyol made from eco-friendly PO whereas in the film
business it will focus on the production of eco-friendly, sophisticated IT
materials;  In order to build an
ecosystem of new biodegradable materials, SKC will remarkably enhance its
biodegradable materials technology for PLA and PBAT through combination with Limex
technology; and the company is aimed at achieving KRW 3 trillion in sales by
2025 in the business. 

To finance its ‘RISE,’
SKC will deploy both strategic financing including joint ventures and policy loans
and self-procurement including increased internal cash generation. The company
has also published guidelines advocating the protection of the interest of its
shareholders including shareholders while maintaining at least the current
level of its financial stability.

CEO Lee Wan-jae
said, “SKC pledged to ‘Get Out of the Well’ in 2016. We have since pushed for
Deep Change akin to _ meta_morphosis,” adding “With the goal of rising as a ‘major
global materials solution marketer,’ SKC will strive to boost its customer
value while seeking to contribute to changing the world through the realization
of sustainable values together with its stakeholders worldwide.”