Sama Aluminium

Founded in 1969, Sam-A Aluminium is an aluminium foil specialist operating three segments: rolling, converting and electronic materials. For 2025 the disclosed revenue mix was rolling 55.37%, converting 22.54% and electronic components 22.09%.

The rolling segment makes lithium-ion battery foil and general-purpose foil, with battery products including cathode current collectors, pouch-type battery casing material and lead-tab material, while general-purpose output covers flexible packaging, pharmaceutical packaging, capacitor and heat-exchanger fin foil.

The converting segment handles retort packaging, alu-alu cold-forming foil, cigarette wrapping and refill pouches, plus industrial and construction products.

The company developed a 10-micrometre lithium-ion cathode foil in 2012 and has supplied aluminium foil to the three domestic cell makers, LG Energy Solution, SK On and Samsung SDI.

Its order base includes a long-term supply contract with LG Energy Solution worth roughly KRW 695bn running to 2030 and a roughly KRW 215bn long-term deal with European cell maker ACC.

It is the sole supplier of aluminium material for pouch casing to Yulchon Chemical, which in turn holds a long-term contract with LG Energy Solution and General Motors. Korea's aluminium foil market is a tight oligopoly of Sam-A Aluminium, Lotte Aluminium, DI Dong-il, Dongwon Systems and Korea Aluminium.

Management noted it runs six rolling mills after 60 years in business, that the core mills come from a single German supplier, and that earlier rights-issue proceeds funded a strip line, making it the only player producing both strip and foil.

Earnings deteriorated visibly through the EV demand slowdown.

Revenue fell from KRW 312.1bn in 2022 to KRW 268.0bn in 2023 and KRW 251.7bn in 2024, then recovered modestly to KRW 271.5bn in 2025, but operating profit collapsed from KRW 22.6bn (7.2% margin) in 2022 to KRW 3.8bn (1.4%) in 2023 before turning to losses of KRW 9.6bn in 2024 and KRW 17.6bn in 2025.

The 2025 net loss attributable to owners was KRW 24.9bn, wider than the operating loss, and operating cash flow swung to minus KRW 5.0bn from plus KRW 5.2bn in 2024 and plus KRW 13.8bn in 2023.

Equity shrank from KRW 255.0bn in 2023 to KRW 217.9bn in 2025 while liabilities grew from KRW 149.3bn to KRW 234.1bn, lifting the debt-to-equity ratio from 58.6% to 107.4%.

Quarterly, 2Q25 showed revenue of KRW 67.4bn with a KRW 3.3bn operating loss, 3Q25 KRW 66.7bn and minus KRW 4.4bn, and 4Q25 KRW 71.2bn and minus KRW 7.5bn, with the 4Q25 net loss of KRW 11.7bn far exceeding the operating loss, pointing to non-operating charges.

Losses continued in 1Q26 with revenue of KRW 67.4bn and an operating loss of KRW 4.4bn.

The turn came in 2Q26: revenue of KRW 96.9bn, up 43.7% quarter on quarter, and operating profit of KRW 1.7bn, though net profit attributable to owners was only KRW 0.26bn, showing that financial costs and other non-operating items still weigh.

Broker commentary attributed the loss years partly to running lines on lower-margin general-purpose products, and described 2026 as a year of shifting the rolling mix toward ESS and EV cathode foil.

At its July 2026 briefing the company said orders from one customer began in April and immediately restored profitability, with recent months all in the black.

The biggest shift in this sector is the move of end-demand weight from EVs to energy storage. Expanding grid investment and the growth of AI data centres are driving rapid ESS growth, and rising demand for large-scale LFP-based storage is opening a new demand axis for battery materials.

In a June 2026 report SK Securities projected ESS shipments from Korea's three cell makers rising to 50GWh in 2026, 100GWh in 2027 and 160GWh in 2028 even on conservative assumptions.

The same report estimated demand for carbon-coated aluminium foil, essential for LFP batteries, growing by 10,000 tonnes in 2027 and 12,000 tonnes in 2028 year on year. Supply constraints are structural.

Foil lines are shared with packaging and industrial products so cannot be dedicated entirely to cathode foil, effective utilisation at major Korean suppliers is already 70-85% against full capacity in the low 90s, and rolling mills are sourced exclusively from Germany with long lead times from order to start-up.

Layered on top, the foreign entity of concern rules under the US Inflation Reduction Act make tax-credit compliance difficult where carbon coating runs through China, channelling orders toward non-China Korean suppliers.

That said, a later-than-expected EV recovery could delay the demand improvement, while low-price competition from Chinese players and aluminium price volatility are cited as headwinds.

Sam-A Aluminium sits as a leading domestic player handling both strip and foil, but Lotte Aluminium, DI Dong-il and Dongwon Systems are competing for the same demand with their own expansions.

The company's own plan and utilisation commentary frame what matters over the next few quarters. At its July 2026 briefing it said the initial-year business plan targeted KRW 300bn in revenue and an end to losses.

It also said it had secured 15 battery and automaker customers, that ESS volumes from a single domestic cell maker alone fill capacity, and that revenue is being driven by power demand tied to North American big-tech AI data centres.

With ESS volumes alone filling capacity, management said it is reviewing new rolling mills and an additional downstream carbon-coating line — but this remains at review stage, with no binding disclosure of scale or timing.

Carbon coating is currently outsourced to China with domestic set-up in preparation, a domestic cell maker's shift to ESS was described as positive, and North American automakers and Chinese cell makers are expected from 2027.

Sodium-ion batteries use aluminium foil rather than copper foil on the anode, creating new addressable demand that management called a key driver of its expansion deliberations.

A US entry and domestic expansion are under longer-term review, and the US plan drawn up right after the earlier rights issue was shelved during the demand downturn.

In an April 2026 report SK Securities forecast 2026 revenue of KRW 372.2bn and operating profit of KRW 8.8bn, a return to profit, with ESS revenue up 160% year on year and its revenue share rising from 17% in 2025 to 31% in 2026.