'How Does Trash Become Money?'... Seongil Hi-Tech Triples Its Price in Public Offering

[Asia Economy Reporter Park So-yeon] There is a company that collects used batteries and turns them into reusable resources. It is Seongil Hi-Tech, which operates a business that extracts and recycles key materials such as cobalt and lithium. They extract metals from electronic waste including electric vehicles, as well as mobile phones, laptops, ESS (Energy Storage Systems), and power tools. The company started with precious metal recycling in March 2000 and began its used battery recycling business in 2008.

Currently, Seongil Hi-Tech extracts key materials of electric vehicle batteries such as cobalt, nickel, manganese, and lithium from used batteries and supplies them to cathode material manufacturers. The recovery rate for cobalt and nickel reaches 96%. Sales have rapidly grown from 49.4 billion KRW in 2019 to 66 billion KRW in 2020, and 147.3 billion KRW in 2021. They have secured major battery companies such as LG Energy Solution, SK On, and Samsung SDI domestically, as well as leading global automakers as clients. Seongil Hi-Tech established its factory in 2008 and began full-scale used battery recycling in 2011, accumulating over 10 years of experience in this field. Since the used battery recycling sector has only recently gained attention, companies with technology and know-how in this area are counted among the top five worldwide.

Based on its technological capabilities and growth potential, the company was listed on the KOSDAQ market in July. The initial public offering price was 50,000 KRW. As of the closing price on September 8, it rose to 151,200 KRW, approximately three times the IPO price.

Seongil Hi-Tech is noted for its leading technology compared to competitors, including the domestic first development of lithium materialization technology within secondary batteries. According to SNE Research, the global volume of electric vehicle used batteries is expected to increase from 71 GWh in 2021 to 290 GWh in 2025. With rising raw material prices and intensified competition for raw material procurement, the used battery recycling industry is expected to experience high growth.

Through its recycling park in Hungary, the company has secured a raw material base in Europe and plans to continue expanding production bases centered on major automakers and battery manufacturers, including entry into the North American market. Seongil Hi-Tech is understood to possess high mass production capacity through its expertise in solvent extraction processes for separating and refining recovered metals. The 2022 performance forecast is sales of 212.8 billion KRW and operating profit of 29.1 billion KRW. Oh Hyun-jin, a researcher at Kiwoom Securities, said, "Expansion of the product lineup is expected through future technological advancement, including lithium hydroxide and NC solution (nickel cobalt solution)."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.