SKC plans to buy KCFT, the world's top copper foil maker, for $1 billion

SMM1, June 6: SKC, a subsidiary of the SK Group, said on Monday that it would acquire KCFT, the world's largest maker of copper foil for lithium-ion batteries, this week in order to diversify its business portfolio.

SKCFT Holdings, a subsidiary of SKC, will pay 1.19 trillion won ($1 billion) from Kohlberg Kravis Roberts&Co., a US private equity fund, on Tuesday To acquire a 100 per cent stake in KCFT.

SKC, which makes polyester films and materials for semiconductors and cosmetics, said it expected KCFT to become a new growth engine in its growing electric vehicle market, with the acquisition aimed at expanding its mobile business.

It is reported that KCFT's sales in 2018 were about 300 billion won, accounting for 15% of the market share. Ranked first in the global copper foil market in 2018. The global copper foil market reached $1.2 billion in 2017, up 41 per cent from $850 million in 2016, according to KCFT. Its main customers include electric car battery makers LG Chemical, Samsung and Panasonic.

Copper foil is used as the core material of current flow in the four major materials for making battery-cathode material, anode material, separation membrane and electrolyte. Half of the copper foil on the market is made of copper as one-fifteenth of the thickness of the hair, while KCFT uses its own technology to produce 4.5micron ultra-thin 50km copper foil rolls that are only one-30th of the thickness of the hair. This is the longest copper foil roll in the world. SKC says KCFT is the only manufacturer in the world that can produce ultra-thin, high-strength copper foil products with the highest levels of productivity in the world.

Copper foil classification

According to the production process, it can be divided into calender copper foil and electrolytic copper foil.

According to the performance, it can be divided into standard copper foil, high temperature and high extension star copper foil, high ductility copper foil, transfer resistant copper foil, low profile copper foil, ultra-low profile copper foil and so on.

According to the thickness can be divided into conventional thickness copper foil, ultra-thin copper foil, extremely thin copper foil, thick copper foil, ultra-thick copper foil.

According to the color of surface treatment, electrolytic copper foil can be divided into several typical color types: reddening, graying and blackening.

Calender copper foil PK electrolytic copper foil

Due to the limitation of Calendering copper foil processing technology, the width of Calendering copper foil is difficult to meet the production requirements of rigid copper clad laminate, so Calendering copper foil is rarely used on rigid printed circuit board (RPCB).

However, because calender copper foil belongs to flake crystal structure, it is superior to electrolytic copper foil in elongation, folding resistance and high temperature recrystallization, so calender copper foil is mostly used on flexible printed circuit board (FPC). In addition, due to the high density of calender copper foil, the surface is relatively smooth, which is conducive to the rapid transmission of the signal after the printed circuit board is made, so some calender copper foil is also used on the printed circuit board of high frequency circuit and fine circuit.

The traditional electrolytic copper foil for printed circuits is a columnar crystalline structure, and its elongation, folding resistance and high temperature recrystallization are inferior to that of calendered copper foil, so electrolytic copper foil has been used in the production of rigid copper clad laminate for a long time. Calender copper foil is mostly used in flexible copper clad laminates.

In recent years, with the improvement of electrolytic copper foil production technology, many copper foil manufacturers have developed electrolytic copper foil suitable for flexible printed circuit board, high frequency circuit board and micro circuit. The elongation and folding resistance of these special purpose electrolytic copper foil are very close to the same specification calender copper foil, and the surface roughness is also controlled in a specific range. Some varieties of electrolytic copper foil for flexible printed circuit boards also have a certain high temperature recrystallization. Due to the improvement of electrolytic copper foil production technology and the advantages of price, more and more manufacturers of flexible printed circuit board, high frequency circuit board and micro circuit board begin to use electrolytic copper foil instead of calender copper foil.

Application of Copper foil

Copper foil is one of the indispensable key materials in the production of lithium battery. Thinning is the development direction of high-end copper foil, so that copper foil thinning can increase the range of lithium battery life, is one of the core areas of global new energy battery competition. In addition to making lithium batteries, it is also widely used in industrial calculators, communication equipment and so on.

Copper foil market

It is understood that at present, the main countries producing copper foil in the world include China, Japan, South Korea, the United States and other countries and regions, but in the high-end electrolytic copper foil, production technology, equipment manufacturing technology and market share are monopolized by Japan. Lu Binghu, party secretary of Tongling non-ferrous copper crown copper foil, once said: "at present, the thinnest copper foil for calendering in the world can reach 3 microns, which is made by Japanese enterprises and accounts for 90% of the world market share in the field of 3 microns."

Although the global output of Chinese copper foil accounts for more than 50% in recent years, but in the high-end copper foil, China's production capacity is still insufficient, the domestic demand for high-end copper foil, especially the demand for high-end lithium copper foil is still dominated by imports. Gradually seize the domestic high-end copper foil market, become the goal of domestic copper foil enterprises with strong technical strength.

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