[Featured Stock] J-O, the Only Company Mass-Producing Anode Material CNT... Growth Potential Highlighted Faster than Electric Vehicles

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyungsoo Park] JEO, a carbon nanotube (CNT) company specializing in secondary battery conductive materials, is showing strong performance.

As of 11:28 AM on the 2nd, JEO is trading at 22,650 KRW, up 7.09% from the previous trading day.

JEO succeeded in mass-producing CNT domestically for the first time in 2006. It possesses proprietary production technology that can control diameter, length, shape, and other factors that determine the quality of the material. As of November 2022, it completed an expansion from an existing annual production capacity of 300 tons to 1,000 tons. It plans to further expand to an annual production capacity of 5,000 tons by 2025.

Based on 20 years of carbon nanotube research, JEO succeeded in developing the world's highest quality carbon nanotubes for secondary battery conductive materials. Through more than five years of long-term customer verification, its material technology and quality have been recognized, and it supplies carbon nanotubes to major domestic and international secondary battery manufacturers.

JEO's carbon nanotubes demonstrate superior performance and advantages compared to competitors' products, including ▲ excellent electrical properties due to wide specific surface area and small diameter ▲ high-efficiency homogeneous product production ▲ use of non-ferrous catalysts to prevent voltage drop and fire risk in batteries.

CNT is a new material expected to replace carbon black, which has been used as a conductive material in existing secondary batteries. Leveraging experience in designing and manufacturing material production facilities accumulated in the plant engineering business sector, JEO independently manufactured CNT-related production equipment. Since 2014, it has been conducting R&D on non-ferrous CNT for secondary batteries with Samsung SDI, and in the following year succeeded in mass-producing non-ferrous CNT (JENOTUBE 10B) for cathode conductive materials. Demand is increasing to adopt it for anode conductive materials in secondary batteries. JENOTUBE 6A and 8A are thin-walled (few-walled) carbon nanotubes (TWCNT) that JEO was the first in the world to develop for mass production and supply. They are emerging as conductive materials for secondary batteries. Negotiations are underway to sign supply contracts with secondary battery manufacturers. SK Innovation invested 15 billion KRW last year as a strategic investor (SI).

The battery materials market is projected to grow more than fourfold by 2030. SNE Research forecasted that, driven by the explosive growth of the electric vehicle market, the four major material markets will grow to $93.4 billion (121 trillion KRW) by 2025 and $147.6 billion (192 trillion KRW) by 2030.

The four major materials?cathode materials, anode materials, electrolytes, and separators?account for 70% of the total battery market, with cathode materials comprising more than 60% of the four major material markets. This is because raw material prices such as lithium, cobalt, and nickel are reflected in cathode material costs. Cathode materials are key battery components that determine electric vehicle driving range and output performance.

Researcher Guseongjung of DS Investment & Securities explained, "Demand for conductive material CNT is expected to grow at an average annual rate of 45%, which is faster than the electric vehicle market's expected average annual growth rate of 25% until 2030." He added, "CNT for cathode conductive materials used in high-nickel batteries will grow at an average annual rate of 44%, and CNT for anode conductive materials will grow at an average annual rate of 99% following the emergence of the silicon anode material market."

He said, "JEO is expanding production capacity to respond to the growing market. Commercialized multi-walled CNT will be expanded from 1,000 tons to 5,000 tons by 2025, and few-walled CNT will be expanded from 100 tons to 600 tons."

Researcher Gu explained, "The conductive material CNT produced by JEO is used in high-end products such as high-nickel cathode materials and silicon anode materials, so its impact from economic slowdown is relatively limited," adding, "Due to factors such as an increase in the number of vehicle models equipped and the amount installed per vehicle, it can receive a premium above the market growth rate."