SKC chief vows quick turnaround in battery materials business

SKC announced Tuesday that it has published its 2026 Sustainability Report on its website, covering the company's environmental, social and governance activities and performance.

SKC has released a sustainability report every year since 2020 to maintain transparent communication with domestic and international stakeholders. This year's report incorporated an AI-assisted risk review process using the company's internal AI system to strengthen overall quality.

The report features an enhanced double materiality assessment framework designed to identify the company's key ESG issues. SKC broadened participation from both internal and external stakeholders — including outside directors — to conduct an in-depth analysis of the environmental, social and financial impact of those issues. The process identified climate change response, industrial health and safety, and waste and pollutant reduction as the three core priorities. As part of a broader effort to strengthen group-wide ESG data management, SKC also significantly expanded the environmental and social data disclosure scope for ISC, a semiconductor test solutions investee.

The report also highlights ESG competitiveness initiatives at SKC's portfolio companies. Among the notable examples, SK Nexilis — SKC's copper foil business investee — became the first company in the battery industry to obtain the Copper Mark ESG certification, earning recognition for its global supply chain management standards. The report additionally covers progress in greenhouse gas emissions data management toward achieving net zero by 2040, as well as efforts to build a work environment that supports employees' voluntary growth.

In his foreword, SKC CEO Kim Jong-woo said the battery materials business "will achieve a turnaround in a short period of time through operational improvements, including a shift to high-value-added products and enhanced productivity." He added that the semiconductor materials business "is strengthening its core technology competitiveness in line with the broader trend of high-performance computing."

An SKC official said the company focused this year on further advancing its group-wide ESG data management and assessment systems to improve transparency and reliability. "We will thoroughly embed ESG not as a mere declaration but as a management system, and drive real change through clear goals and accountable execution," the official said.