[Market Focus] PKC Rises on News of New High-Purity HCl Production Line Passing Samsung Electronics' Quality Certification

PKC is showing strong performance. This is believed to be influenced by the news that its newly expanded high-purity hydrogen chloride (HCl) production line recently passed Samsung Electronics' quality certification test.

As of 10:36 a.m. on June 25, PKC was trading at 6,310 won, up 8.23% from the previous day.

According to industry sources, PKC's high-purity HCl from the newly completed production line has passed Samsung Electronics' quality certification test. The company has been carrying out a project for several years to expand its high-purity HCl production capacity at its Gunsan plant in North Jeolla Province.

In response to Samsung Electronics' requirements, PKC has also succeeded in significantly reducing the arsenic content in products from the new facility compared to those from the existing Plant 1. Arsenic is an impurity that must be strictly controlled in advanced semiconductor processes. Because PKC has lowered this content, its products are expected to be used in leading-edge processes as well.

Until now, the domestic high-purity HCl market has been monopolized by Japan's Towa Gosei. Before Japan's semiconductor material export restrictions in 2019, Towa Gosei's market share reached 90-95%. Since the export restrictions, Samsung Electronics has actively promoted the localization of high-purity HCl in cooperation with PKC. PKC supplied products to Samsung Electronics for the first time in 2021. Recently, PKC's domestic market share has risen to 20-25%, while Towa Gosei's share has decreased to 70-80%.

Industry observers believe that PKC's market share will further increase as a result of passing the quality certification for the new facility. Analysts also expect that the proportion of high-purity HCl in the company's total sales will expand from the previous high single digits to double digits or more.