Huaxin Stainless Steel's business performance in the first half of this year is expected to be better than that of the second half of last year

According to the Taiwan media on February 24, 2023, Huaxin, a stainless steel factory in Taiwan, held a press conference in the afternoon. Huaxin stated that the performance of its wire and cable business has been stable. With the unsealing of the mainland, the stainless steel business is expected to perform better in the first half of this year than in the second half of last year. The resource business has been expanding into Indonesia, with the nickel pig iron and nickel ice layout gradually coming into operation, and next year's production is expected to reach 84,000 tons of nickel metal.

Huaxin LiHua's main businesses include wire and cable, stainless steel, and resources (nickel). It earned about NT$19.4 billion in profits last year, with an EPS of NT$5.45, mainly due to the stable contribution of the wire and cable business, as well as the expansion of the resource business in Indonesia, including nickel pig iron and nickel ice. After the unsealing of the mainland, the demand from private consumption and investment will drive the stainless steel business, making it perform better in the first half of this year than in the second half of last year.

Huaxin has made several major investments in recent years. The acquisition of Italy's CONGE Steel Plant was completed at the end of November last year, and it will begin to contribute to profits this year. CAS had a revenue of about 960 million euros and a profit of about 50 million euros last year. Huaxin initially expected its performance to be worse this year, but it is now expected to be better than in the second half of last year.

As for the resource business, Huaxin has Huaxin Nickel, Xuri, and Weichuang in Indonesia. By the first quarter of next year, these companies will gradually start production, with an annual production capacity of 150,000 tons of nickel metal, of which Huaxin will acquire about 84,000 tons based on its investment ratio.

Nickel ice is a material used in electric vehicle batteries. Huaxin estimates that the current global demand is about 500,000 tons, which will double to 1.1 million tons by 2025 and 2026. Huaxin also explained that due to the large fluctuations in the stainless steel business in the past, it has invested heavily in Indonesia to secure the source of materials.

Huaxin's General Manager, Pan Wenhu, also announced Huaxin's latest major investment. Huaxin will cooperate with Danish cable merchant NKT to establish Huacable, with an expected investment of NT$2.7 billion. Pan mentioned that "the government's promotion of offshore wind power policy is very clear," and Huaxin acquired Kaohsiung Port for lease in March last year. NKT Group will provide Huaxin's Kaohsiung submarine cable factory with the required technology and services.