Korea Zinc Achieves Record-High First-Half Sales... Second-Quarter Operating Profit Down 3.7% Year-on-Year

Strong Sales of Strategic Minerals and Precious Metals Drive Growth
Surging Demand for Antimony Amid Chinese Export Controls
"Productivity Gains and Business Diversification Deliver Results"

Korea Zinc achieved record-breaking results for the first half of this year, posting consolidated sales of 7.6582 trillion won?the highest half-year performance in the company's history. However, the trend in operating profit by quarter showed a mixed picture. In the second quarter of this year, operating profit slightly decreased compared to the same period last year, while on a separate basis, it showed an increase.

On August 6, Korea Zinc announced that its consolidated sales for the second quarter of 2025 reached 3.8254 trillion won, with an operating profit of 258.9 billion won. These figures represent a 25.1% increase in sales and a 3.7% decrease in operating profit compared to the same period last year. In contrast, on a separate basis, second-quarter sales rose by 23.8% year-on-year to 2.4614 trillion won, and operating profit increased by 3.5% to 266.5 billion won.

The cumulative performance for the first half of the year marked an all-time high. On a consolidated basis, first-half sales soared by 40.9% year-on-year to 7.6582 trillion won, while operating profit climbed by 16.9% to 529.9 billion won. On a separate basis, first-half sales surpassed 4 trillion won for the first time, reaching 4.85 trillion won, and operating profit rose by 20.3% year-on-year to 539.2 billion won.

Diversification of the business portfolio is cited as a key driver of this performance growth. The cumulative sales volume of antimony?a strategic mineral unique to Korea?reached 2,261 tons in the first half, up 29.9% from the same period last year, while sales revenue surged more than fivefold to 161.4 billion won. Antimony, which is used in missiles and military electronic equipment, began its first exports to the United States in June this year. Korea Zinc aims to export a total of 100 tons of antimony this year and more than 240 tons next year.

Precious metals also delivered strong results. Silver sales volume increased by 3.8%, and sales revenue jumped by 39.8% to 1.5193 trillion won. Gold sales revenue more than doubled year-on-year to 773.2 billion won.

A Korea Zinc official stated, "Amid intensifying supply chain disruptions, our broad business portfolio?including strategic minerals and precious metals?has been a significant advantage," adding, "We will continue to strengthen our technology-driven management and our role as a global supply hub for key minerals going forward."

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