Lotte Energy Materials Targets Double-Digit Profit Margin in High-End Copper Foil

What happened

On a Nov. 5 third-quarter 2026 earnings conference call, Lotte Energy Materials said it expects its high-end circuit copper foil business for AI data centers to achieve a double-digit operating profit margin of at least 10% next year, driven by growing demand for high-value copper foil used in AI servers and high-speed networks, and the company also plans to expand production capacity. It plans to make circuit copper foil a core product category, raising its share of revenue from an estimated 14% this year to 40% by 2029. To support the expansion, Lotte Energy Materials will increase annual circuit copper foil production capacity at its Iksan plant in North Jeolla Province from 6,700 tons to 16,000 tons by 2027 by adding post-processing facilities within the existing plant, and is considering further expansion in 2028 plus dedicated production equipment for HVLP copper foil and ultra-thin copper foil (UTC). The company currently mass-produces Grade 3 and Grade 4 HVLP copper foil and is developing Grade 5; yield for Grade 1 HVLP is about 60%, below the 80% for conventional circuit copper foil, and the company plans to raise yields to levels comparable with global competitors by the end of this year. It forecasts global HVLP demand to grow at a 33% compound annual rate from 2026 through 2030 versus current demand of less than 30,000 tons, and expects circuit copper foil sales volume to more than double next year with high-end products accounting for over 50% of the total. Lotte Energy Materials reported third-quarter revenue of 289.7 billion won and an operating loss of 21.3 billion won; revenue rose 101.6% from a year earlier while the operating loss narrowed by about 13 billion won. The company expects its Malaysian subsidiary, which produces battery copper foil, to turn profitable in the first or second quarter of next year and to return to profitability on a consolidated basis in the second quarter of next year.

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Source and time

Source: The Elec · 11/8/2026 · View original source