Visit to Lotte Energy Materials Smart Factory
"Please produce the world's highest quality copper foil" requested
Shin Dong-bin, Chairman of Lotte, visited the Lotte Energy Materials smart factory in Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia, to inspect the secondary battery materials business. This follows his visit last month to the new EVSIS (a subsidiary of Lotte Innovate) plant in Cheongju, where he personally oversaw issues related to the electric vehicle charger business, marking a consecutive move in new business management.
According to Lotte Holdings on the 18th, Chairman Shin visited the Lotte Energy Materials smart factory the day before and encouraged local employees by saying, "Please leverage Malaysia's locational advantages to further enhance cost competitiveness and strive to produce the world's highest quality copper foil." He also urged, "Please lead the market by strengthening fundamental competitiveness."
Shin Dong-bin, Chairman of Lotte (fourth from the left), visited the Lotte Energy Materials Smart Factory located in Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia on the 17th to check the status of the secondary battery materials business. [Photo by Lotte Holdings]
Lotte Energy Materials has been producing copper foil in Malaysia since 2019. With the completion of Plants 5 and 6 last year, an additional 20,000 tons can be produced, bringing the annual production capacity to 60,000 tons. This accounts for 75% of Lotte Energy Materials' total copper foil production volume.
Lotte Energy Materials plans to increase copper foil production by operating Plants 5 and 6 in the second half of this year and utilize Malaysia as a production base for overseas expansion. The company currently operates production facilities in Malaysia and Iksan, Jeonbuk, and is planning to build copper foil factories in Spain and the United States to respond to the European and North American markets in the future.
Earlier, Lotte officially entered the secondary battery materials business by acquiring Iljin Materials for 2.7 trillion KRW last year. The secondary battery materials business falls under the sustainability sector, one of Lotte's four new growth themes, which also include Bio & Wellness, Mobility, and New Life Platform.
Meanwhile, Lotte Energy Materials recorded its highest-ever sales of 809 billion KRW last year, an 11% increase compared to the previous year.
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