[Click eStock] "Hansol Chemical: Little Impact Expected from POSCO-OCI Joint Venture"

[Asia Economy Reporter Minji Lee] Korea Investment & Securities maintained its buy rating and target price of 13,000 KRW for Hansol Chemical on the 25th, stating that it is unlikely to be significantly affected by the establishment of a hydrogen peroxide joint venture between POSCO Chemical and OCI.

On the 21st, POSCO Chemical and OCI agreed to establish a hydrogen peroxide business joint venture with a 51:49 equity ratio. The joint venture plans to produce and supply hydrogen peroxide using hydrogen, a byproduct produced at POSCO's Gwangyang Steelworks, as raw material.

Yoo Jong-woo, a researcher at Korea Investment & Securities, said, "The hydrogen peroxide production capacity of the POSCO Chemical and OCI joint venture is 50,000 tons, which accounts for 20% of the total domestic hydrogen peroxide production, a considerable scale. However, considering that semiconductor facility investments by Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix are continuously increasing and that the market share of ultra-high purity hydrogen peroxide is not determined by production volume, the risk of price decline is not significant."

Currently, Hansol Chemical holds a dominant market share in the semiconductor-grade hydrogen peroxide market. Hansol Chemical supplies hydrogen peroxide to Samsung Electronics' Pyeongtaek Plant 2, and the supplier for SK Hynix's M16 plant, scheduled for completion at the end of this year, is expected to be either Hansol Chemical or OCI.

Researcher Yoo Jong-woo explained, "There is no need to be overly concerned about hydrogen peroxide capacity expansion and oversupply. Domestic semiconductor companies continue to expand, and from Hansol Chemical's perspective, while increasing supply volume is important, maintaining operating rates and profitability is even more crucial."

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