Lotte Energy Materials going for gold in high-end copper market

Lotte Energy Materials CEO Kim Yeon-seop speaks during a press conference held at Lotte Hotel World in southern Seoul on Tuesday. [NEWS1]

Copper foil manufacturer Lotte Energy Materials plans to work through 15 trillion won ($11.5 billion) of orders booked this year as it takes advantage of the growing demand for electric cars.

The company is aiming to have completed 20 trillion won of orders by 2025 and account for 30 percent of the global high-end copper foil market by 2028.

“Considering the deals that we have already secured and the ones currently under negotiation, our estimation is that our backlog orders booked this year will reach 15 trillion won,” said Lotte Energy Materials CEO Kim Yeon-seop during a press conference held Tuesday in southern Seoul.

“If the trend continues, 90 percent of our production capacity will be booked for stable long-term sales contracts,” Kim explained.

Copper foil is a core component in making anodes, which are used in lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles (EVs).

The high-quality copper foil has a thickness of 6 micrometers or less, a high elongation rate and high intensity, according to Lotte Energy Materials.

Driven by the growing EV deployment, the copper foil market, which is still in its formative stages, is expected to see a significant increase in demand, particularly in Europe and North America.

Eyeing a slice of the burgeoning space, Lotte Energy Materials hopes to take a leading position in the high-end market.

“Among the copper foil suppliers that can meet the demand for high-end products, Lotte Energy Materials has the strongest technological capabilities,” said Kim.

Lotte Energy Materials has an annual copper foil production capacity of 60,000 tons. The plan is to push up the figure to 240,000 tons by 2028.

The company is currently expanding production capacity at its Malaysian plant with two new facilities under construction. When fully operational in 2024, the plant will have a manufacturing capacity of 60,000 tons from the previous 40,000 tons. The plan is to further ramp up the figure to 90,000 tons by 2028.

Lotte is also considering establishing production facilities in Spain and the United States to better address the global customers’ needs in Europe and North America.

Lotte Energy Materials, rebranded from Iljin Materials, signed an acquisition deal with Lotte Chemical in October last year, which was finalized in March. Lotte Chemical currently holds 53.3 percent of the copper foil supplier.

BY SHIN HA-NEE [shin.hanee@joongang.co.kr]