No Jaeseok, CEO of SKIET, Personally Explains North American Expansion Plans to Domestic and International Investors

CEO No Jaeseok and Domestic Investors Including National Pension Service Communicate
Meet Overseas Investors Such as BlackRock to Explain Business Strategy
"North America and Europe LiBS Market Growing Over 30% Annually"

No Jae-seok, CEO of SKIET. Photo by SKIET

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seoyoon] SKIET (SK Innovation Electronics Technology), a company producing secondary battery separators, is consecutively holding investor briefings for domestic and overseas investors including the National Pension Service and BlackRock. CEO Noh Jaeseok plans to personally announce mid- to long-term business strategies such as considering expansion in the North American market.

SKIET announced on the 4th that it will visit Hong Kong and Singapore from the 8th to the 12th to hold investor briefings for local global institutional investors, asset management companies, securities firms, and fund managers. SKIET plans to meet with BlackRock’s investment officers, the largest asset management company in the world, and representatives from APG, one of Europe’s largest pension asset managers in the Netherlands, to explain business directions and request expanded investment.

SKIET is also actively communicating with investors domestically. On the 2nd, it held a conference call for securities analysts and is conducting investor briefings for the country’s largest institutional investors such as the National Pension Service and asset management companies until the 4th.

SKIET stated that CEO Noh is showing strong determination to enhance corporate value by personally attending both domestic and overseas investor briefings to explain business strategies. This is to secure investor support amid delayed performance recovery due to sluggish demand in the front-end sector. The goal is to minimize investor concerns related to performance and secure friendly investors seeking long-term value investments despite uncertain global business environments.

CEO Noh revealed mid- to long-term strategies such as plans to enter the North American market to capture growth demand, improve productivity, and expand automation during the conference call on the 2nd, and plans to actively explain these strategies to overseas investors as well. CEO Noh said, “In the case of global wet LiBS demand, the North American and European regions are expected to record high growth of over 30% annually,” and added, “We consider investment plans in North America essential given the market potential and increasing demand from key customers.”

Considering additional order acquisition and procurement plans, SKIET is reviewing various options related to investment in North America from multiple angles and plans to share details with the market once decisions are finalized. CEO Noh also said, “Currently, the operating rate of SKIET’s Poland Plant 1 is improving, and regarding the expansion of Plants 2 to 4, the schedule for commercial operation will be flexibly adjusted considering uncertainties in the external business environment.”

In light of the U.S. and EU policies encouraging domestic production and prioritizing locally produced products, SKIET’s strategy is to secure competitive advantage through timely localization.

CEO Noh is also actively explaining productivity innovation measures to secure cost competitiveness. During the conference call, he stated, “We have secured equipment technology that improves productivity by up to twice the current level and plan to introduce it to new expansion lines when entering North America.” Additionally, through smart factory transformation, SKIET plans to ensure quality uniformity across global production facilities and reduce fixed costs per unit by up to 60%.

An SKIET official said, “While maintaining the excellent quality of separators, we will achieve innovation that secures price competitiveness through revolutionary cost improvements,” and added, “We will continue to actively communicate with the market regarding business strategies and market conditions.”

An employee examining the SKIET separator. Photo by SKIET

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