(5016) Stock Price

JX Metals is a company that develops, manufactures, and sells advanced materials made from copper and rare metals. Its flagship products are sputtering targets for semiconductors and rolled copper foil. The company also engages in resource development, smelting, and recycling, supporting stable supply through a supply chain that connects raw materials to finished products.

The company's customers span a wide range, including semiconductor manufacturers, semiconductor equipment makers, electronic component manufacturers that produce substrates and connectors, and smartphone and automotive makers. Revenue is organized into three segments: semiconductor materials, information and communications materials, and basic materials, with semiconductor materials and information and communications materials positioned as the main growth drivers. The company benefits from revenue stability through long-standing customer relationships and its reputation for quality.

Looking at the business in detail, the semiconductor materials segment handles high-purity sputtering targets and tantalum and niobium-based powders, with manufacturing bases in the United States, Taiwan, and South Korea to establish a customer-proximity supply system. The information and communications materials segment provides high-performance rolled copper foil and copper alloys, with particular strength in thin, flexible copper foil for flexible circuits. The basic materials segment participates in mining operations in Chile and elsewhere, produces copper ingots at smelting facilities, and advances recycling expansion and low-carbon smelting practices, building an integrated system from resource extraction to reuse.

JX Metals is transforming from an "equipment-intensive company" to a "technology-driven company," with a long-term vision through 2040 that positions semiconductor materials and information/communications materials as core growth drivers. Based on market conditions, the semiconductor logic and memory markets are expected to grow at approximately 7.1% annually from 2023 to 2027, with cutting-edge logic alone projected to grow at 36.9% annually. To capture this demand, the company plans to expand sputtering target production capacity for semiconductors by approximately 1.6 times by March 2028 compared to March 2024, aiming for profit growth that outpaces market expansion.

Priority investments focus on key product lines—semiconductor targets and rolled copper foil—and their supporting upstream and downstream production systems. Specifically, in addition to the existing Isohara plant, the company is constructing a new factory in Hitachinaka, Ibaraki, and has positioned manufacturing bases in Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, and the United States, including a new Mesa, Arizona facility (completed November 2024). This strengthens supply chains close to major customers. Differentiation is achieved through technological capabilities in high-purity processing, surface control, composition design, and analytical evaluation, combined with long-standing quality track records. The company maintains competitive advantage by meeting customers' increasingly sophisticated requirements.

For new market development and business expansion, the company is investing in next-generation thin-film materials (used in chemical vapor deposition and atomic layer deposition—CVD/ALD techniques), InP substrates, and crystalline materials such as CdZnTe. The company is advancing production and development equipment installation at Toho Titanium's Chigasaki and Hitachi facilities, and production restructuring and equipment upgrades at Germany's TANIOBIS, targeting creation of next-generation global top-share products. To secure stable recycled material supplies, the company has collection hubs in Taiwan, the United States, Canada, Germany, and Singapore, and is strengthening recovery and resource recycling systems through JX Circular Solutions, a joint venture established with Mitsubishi Corporation in July 2024.

Regarding technological innovation, the company is introducing state-of-the-art equipment for automation and productivity improvements while strengthening capabilities in high-purity processing, surface control, composition design, and analytical evaluation technologies. Through process automation at the Mesa facility, development of CVD/ALD materials, and advancement of crystalline material commercialization, the company is capturing next-generation applications and building a technological foundation that addresses societal challenges including circular economy and decarbonization. Through these initiatives, JX Metals aims to achieve sustainable high-profit operations and establish itself as a global leader.