이 기사는 2021년 09월 14일 07:54 thebell 에 표출된 기사입니다.

LG Innotek’s optics solution and substrate and material businesses rely heavily on Japan even after Japan started restricting exports to Korea in 2019.

According to the company’s semi-annual report, most of the raw material suppliers to LG Innotek’s optics solution business and substrate and material business turned out to be Japanese companies.

The South Korean electronics component maker replaced some of its suppliers of flexible copper clad laminate (FCCL) to domestic companies like KCF Technology and Toray Advanced Materials Korea in 2019, but it changed them again last year to Japan-based Sumitomo Metal Mining and SK Nexilis, a chemical unit of South Korean conglomerate SK Group.

LG Innotek has also increasingly traded with Japanese companies for copper clad laminate (CCL) and prepreg (PP), which are basic materials of substrates. Until 2019, domestic companies like Doosan Corporation Electro-Materials were on the list of major suppliers, but Japanese companies, including Mitsubishi Gas Chemical and Hitachi Chemical, have started to supply more of their products since last year.

Japan’s Sony still supplies the largest amount of image sensor parts to LG Innotek. The Japanese company has long been a major supplier to LG Innotek thanks to its core technology in the image sensor sector.

The image sensor is an essential part for camera modules, and it accounts for the largest part of LG Innotek's annual raw material expenses. The image sensor accounted for 879.2 billion won ($748 million), or 23.8%, of total raw material expenses the company spent on the optics solution, substrate and material, and automotive components businesses (3.69 trillion won) as of the end of June. It also took up 32% of the camera module raw material expenses of 2.75 trillion won.

LG Innotek has worked with companies like SK hynix, Samsung Electronics, and Germany's Infineon as an alternative to Sony since 2019, but the Japanese company still accounts for the largest part of the total volume.

There was also no significant change in the suppliers of parts for voice coil motor (VCM), a device used in the focusing system of a camera. LG Innotek has purchased VCM mainly from two Japanese companies, electronic device producer Alps Electric and backlight module manufacturer Mitsumi since 2018.

The company’s purchases of chemical materials for plating are also dominated by Japanese firms. Germany's Atotech and Saudi Arabia's MEC supplied the parts to LG Innotek until 2018, but Japan's UYEMURA has been supplying them since 2019.

Experts concerned that most of the raw materials for image sensors and glass substrates required for camera module production are relying on Japanese companies, with LG Innotek’s optics solution and substrate and material businesses accounting for 70% and 13% of total revenue, respectively.

“We have to choose suppliers, taking product quality into account,” said an official at LG Innotek. “We are trying to resolve the supply chain concentration and diversify the supply chain.” (Reporting by Hyun-ji Sohn)