"Betting on the Downturn"—Materials, Parts, and Equipment Companies Push Ahead with Expansion and Investment

[Financial News] Despite the ongoing economic downturn, materials, parts, and equipment companies are drawing attention by launching investments worth hundreds of billions of won. These companies anticipate a partial recovery in upstream industries such as semiconductors, automobiles, and defense after this year, prompting them to make proactive investments.
According to industry sources on the 30th, Samyang Comtech has decided to invest 23.9 billion KRW to expand its plant in Gumi National Industrial Complex 4. Samyang Comtech specializes in defense armor components for tanks, armored vehicles, tactical vehicles, rockets, and helicopters. The company currently produces ceramic materials for armor at its Gwangju and Gumi plants, while armor component packages are manufactured in Anseong.
With the planned expansion of the Gumi plant, Samyang Comtech expects to increase its production of armor ceramics by about 30%. This move aims to actively respond to the growing overseas demand for the K2 Black Panther and K21 infantry fighting vehicle. The company plans to complete the expansion by August next year and begin operations shortly thereafter.
IL has acquired a 4,423-square-meter site near the Cheonan Smart Factory in South Chungcheong Province to build its third plant for manufacturing lithium metal anode sheets, a key material for solid-state batteries (SSB). The metal anode sheet is a crucial component that determines the performance of SSBs utilizing lithium metal. Demand for SSBs is expected to rise rapidly, especially in humanoid robots, urban air mobility, and high-performance electric vehicles.
IL also focuses on the automotive lamp business, applying its proprietary silicon lens technology to automotive lamps.
An IL representative stated, "Securing the site for our third plant is an investment to accelerate the commercialization and mass production of lithium metal anode sheets for SSBs," adding, "Based on our differentiated dendrite suppression technology, this will serve as a starting point for entering the global humanoid robot market in earnest."
There are also cases where plant acquisition has led to immediate expansion. Advanced Process Systems invested 60 billion KRW to acquire a 15,000-square-meter plant and land in Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province. With this investment, the company has doubled its production capacity for semiconductor and display equipment to 30,000 square meters.
Through this acquisition, Advanced Process Systems plans to actively respond to rising demand for both Organic Light-Emitting Diode (OLED) and semiconductor equipment.
Minseon Noh, director at the Korea Small Business Institute (KOSBI), noted, "To ignite economic recovery, it is important that corporate investments such as plant expansions are increased and linked to job creation."
butter@fnnews.com Kang Kyung-rae Reporter