[Company Visit] GRT Plant 3 Jointly Established with Chinese Government and Namsa Technology... Capable of Annual Production Worth 1.8 Trillion Won

Functional New Material Specialist Chinese Company GRT... KOSDAQ Listed Company
High-Quality Film Production at Factory Equivalent to 37 Soccer Fields

GRT Plant 3 'Jiangsu Hyeji' located in Lianyungang City, Jiangsu Province, China. / Photo by Jang Hyowon

Located just a 15-minute drive from Lianyungang City in Jiangsu Province, one of China’s top 10 port cities, GRT Plant 3 ‘Jiangsu Hyeji’ stands tall and massive, befitting a company with total assets worth 1.5 trillion KRW. The total area of GRT Plant 3 is 267,000㎡, equivalent to 37 soccer fields. This is three times the combined area of the existing Plants 1 and 2. Employees need motorcycles to move around inside the facility.

In-house Base Film Production... Focus on High-Quality Products

GRT, a Chinese company specializing in functional new materials, is a KOSDAQ-listed firm primarily producing precision coated films. The applications of GRT’s products span major fields such as displays, secondary batteries, MLCC (multi-layer ceramic capacitors), and semiconductor materials. BOE, a leading Chinese display company, is a key client for displays, while in the secondary battery sector, GRT collaborates with China’s top battery manufacturer CATL and electric vehicle maker BYD. For MLCC, GRT has supply contracts with the largest domestic company in Korea.

During the reporter’s visit, base films were being actively produced at Plant 3. Base film is the fundamental material for functional films, and the coating applied determines its application. Previously, GRT purchased base films externally, but with the new equipment installed at Plant 3, they can now self-supply. Currently, 90% of the total base film production is handled internally. Despite it being a weekend, the production lines were running non-stop. Director Hyang Gangcheol of GRT stated, “Plant 3 operates 360 days a year, excluding the Lunar New Year holiday.”

Along with base film production, GRT is focusing on manufacturing high value-added products that require more advanced precision coating technology at Plant 3. To this end, they have introduced specialized production lines from Germany’s Dornier, worth over 100 billion KRW. Using this equipment, they produce high-quality MLCC release films, optical-grade BOPET (biaxially oriented polyester), and base films for solar power generation. GRT plans to add one more Dornier machine.

Production facility of Dornier (DORNIER) in Germany.
Photo by Jang Hyowon

GRT’s film production width ranges from 500 to 6200 mm, which is among the industry’s widest, and the production speed reaches 300 meters per minute. They also own six film coating facilities with a width of 2.6 meters, the widest in China, achieving a production efficiency of 320 meters per minute. Currently, about 80% of Plant 3’s equipment has been installed, with some still undergoing production testing. Even though not all equipment is fully operational, Plant 3 recorded sales of 1.483 billion yuan (approximately 272 billion KRW) by the end of March (June fiscal year-end). GRT expects that once Plant 3 is fully operational, annual sales could reach 10 billion yuan (about 1.8 trillion KRW).

Joint Venture with the World’s Largest Touch Panel Company

GRT Plant 3 was established as a joint venture with the Chinese government and the major Chinese corporation ‘Nansha Technology’. Regarding the ownership structure of Jiangsu Hyeji Plant 3, GRT holds 55.7%, Suzhou Huiyi New Material Industry Investment Partnership owns 29.25%, and Nansha Technology holds 15%. Suzhou Huiyi New Material is a fund of the Jiangsu Provincial Finance Department, which also holds shares in GRT, resulting in GRT’s effective ownership in Jiangsu Hyeji being 69.81% according to business reports. Director Hyang Gangcheol said, “With funding from the Jiangsu Provincial Finance Department, various permits and securing the factory site were smoothly handled. Thanks to close cooperation with the Chinese government, business expansion can proceed without major difficulties.”

Cooperation with another major shareholder, Nansha Technology, is also promising. Nansha Technology is the world’s largest smartphone touch panel manufacturer. Listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, it has a market capitalization of about 10 trillion KRW. Its major clients are global leading smartphone companies. Approximately 5% of Plant 3’s sales come from these smartphone companies through Nansha Technology.

GRT also holds patented technologies that meet the demands of global smartphone companies. With ESG (environmental, social, and governance) management gaining attention, demand for eco-friendly products is increasing. In response, GRT developed recyclable and regenerable films. When global smartphone companies send discarded films to GRT, the films are decomposed into raw materials and remanufactured into new films. CEO Ju Youngnam of GRT stated, “Nansha Technology previously relied mostly on overseas companies for films, but due to supply chain stability concerns amid US-China tensions, they formed a joint venture with GRT. GRT is also expanding its business into solar power, renewable energy, and secondary batteries by leveraging Nansha Technology’s network beyond global smartphone companies.”