[Edaily Reporter Kwon Oh Seok ] Hana Securities forecast on the 25th that SamaAluminium(006110)will post its best-ever earnings next year since the company’s founding. However, it did not provide an investment recommendation or a target price.

Han Yu-geon, an analyst at Hana Securities, stated, “Orders for ESS (energy storage systems) for North American data centers, which began in earnest in April of the second quarter, are expected to serve as the key driver of the company’s improved fundamentals this year,” adding “Following the second quarter, the volume of orders in the third quarter is also trending upward compared to the previous quarter; we estimate that SamaAluminium’s order backlog for the third quarter will increase by approximately 1.5 times compared to the second quarter,” he analyzed.
Previously, on a consolidated basis, the company reported second-quarter revenue of 92.9 billion won (up 37.8% year-over-year) and an operating profit of 1.7 billion won (returning to profitability). The primary factor behind this turnaround was the expansion of shipments of ESS-related products, which began in earnest in April of this year. He explained, “Consequently, aluminum foil generated approximately 65 billion won in revenue in the second quarter alone, driving overall performance. In particular, aluminum foil export volumes increased significantly, rising 67% year-over-year and 97% quarter-over-quarter.”
He added, “As aluminum prices on the LME (London Metal Exchange) rose sharply starting in March of this year, price increases were passed on for certain items in the second quarter, and exchange rate effects also had a favorable impact.”
This explosive influx of ESS orders is directly translating into higher plant utilization rates, which are expected to rise from around 50% at the end of 2025 to 75% as of the second quarter of this year, and to reach full capacity (90%) in the second half of the year. One analyst emphasized, “Large-scale orders and production of a single product are expected to maximize production efficiency and leverage effects, in addition to improving SamaAluminium’s product mix.”
With the ESS market experiencing explosive growth due to the recent surge in demand for AI (artificial intelligence), new orders from Chonbang customers have been expanding significantly since the second quarter. Since the aluminum foil manufactured by SamaAluminium is a core material that serves as the current collector for cathode materials, the analyst believes that additional production line expansions will be inevitable to meet the growing demand. In particular, the company is benefiting structurally from restrictions on the use of Chinese-made materials following the implementation of the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).
One analyst stated, “In the second half of the year, the cost ratio is expected to drop significantly from the current 96% to the high 80s, driven by explosive growth in new orders for energy storage systems (ESS) and the proactive reflection of rising LME prices in selling prices. “Even considering certain cost factors associated with the expansion, revenue in 2026 is projected to reach 393.6 billion won—a 45% year-over-year increase—and the company is expected to return to profitability,” he said, adding, “In 2027, revenue is projected to reach 478.2 billion won, with operating
profit of 31.6 billion won, setting a record for the best performance since the company’s founding,” he added.