Korea Zinc turns 50, aims for sevenfold growth by 2033

CEO Choi Yoon-beom [Courtesy of Korea Zinc Inc.]

As it celebrates its 50th anniversary, Korea Zinc Inc. expressed confidence in its future growth and aims to have a market capitalization of 70 trillion won ($51 billion) by 2033.

According to the company, Korea Zinc held its 50th anniversary celebration on Wednesday, the day before the official anniversary, with more than 150 employees, including Chief Executive Officer Choi Yoon-beom, in attendance.

Korea Zinc presented an accumulated revenue target of 217 trillion won for the period from 2023 to 2033. The company’s 2023 sales revenue was 9.7 trillion won, and its cumulative sales over the past 50 years since its foundation in 1974 amounted to 123 trillion won. Listing five core values - honesty, immersion, flexibility, communication, and teamwork - Choi expressed his ambition to transform the company from the world‘s leading non-ferrous metal smelting company into a global energy and materials enterprise.

Korea Zinc has been accelerating its new businesses after announcing its “Troika Drive (TD)” strategy: renewable energy and green hydrogen, resource recycling, and secondary battery materials. Leveraging its expertise in raw material extraction and processing, the company aims to expand its business coverage. The secondary battery materials business will complete a value chain from nickel smelting to nickel sulfate and precursors. The company has also entered the copper foil business.

Starting in 2026, when the company plans to begin commercial operations of the “all-in-one” nickel refinery, Korea Zinc expects to have an annual production capacity of 90,000 tons of nickel sulfate, 80,000 tons of precursors, and 60,000 tons of copper foil by 2033. The high-purity nickel produced by Korea Zinc is expected to meet the standards of the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), ensuring price competitiveness and likely contributing to economic security.

In the resource recycling sector, Korea Zinc is accelerating the establishment of a value chain with the acquisition of Igneo Holdings LLC, an e-scrap recycling specialist with footholds in the United States and Europe, as well as global scrap trading company Kataman Metals LLC. In the renewable energy and green hydrogen sector, the company is expanding infrastructure for green hydrogen and green ammonia production and supply in Australia, and developing eco-friendly energy projects. During this process, Korea Zinc has formed strategic partnerships with South Korean conglomerates such as LG Chem Ltd. and Hanwha Group, as well as global commodity trading company Trafigura Group Pte, pushing for various business alliances.

Founded in 1974, Korea Zinc has grown into the world’s leading smelting company, producing over 1.2 million tons of zinc, lead, gold, silver, copper, and more than 10 types of non-ferrous metals annually. Founder Choi Ki-ho has passed the leadership mantle to Choi Yoon-beom, the third-generation of the founding family, and the company also moved its headquarters back to its birthplace in Jongno, Seoul.