2014년 두산전자가 인수한 룩셈부르크 동박제조업체 서킷포일(Circuit Foil)이 자동차(Automotive), 전자 금융, 핸드폰과 같은 산업 분야에서도 글로벌 입지를 재확인하며, 룩셈부르크에서의 투자를 이어간다.
After having already invested 9 million euros in its production lines in 2017, Circuit Foil, a company specializing in the production of copper foils established in Wiltz, announced Tuesday, August 28 a new 7.5 million euros development plan to expand into the electric car battery market.
The target is to contribute to the production of some 20,000 batteries per year for major automotive companies such as Tesla, Audi, BMW or Mercedes.
This new investment was announced during the visit of Prime Minister Xavier Bettel, two months after Mr Bettel met, during a working visit to South Korea, the leaders of the Doosan Group, parent company of Circuit Foil since 2014.
40% of the group’s revenues in Europe
Doosan is a conglomerate, more than 100-years’old, which stands out as the fastest growing Infrastructure Support Business in the world, active in multiple sectors (energy, robotics, ICT, construction and engineering …). The group employs around 40,000 people in 37 countries.
Its Luxembourg subsidiary alone represents 40% of the group’s revenues in Europe, with a turnover of more than 110 million euros.
4 million square metres each month
Each year, Circuit Foil – which employs around 280 people in Wiltz in the North of the country (during the last four years, the company’s workforce has grown by 25%), produces about 10,000 tons of copper foil. Each month, nearly 4 million square metres of foils are produced, which are then used for multiple purposes.
“We have to bring out the products of tomorrow,” explained Fabienne Bozet, CEO of Circuit Foil since August 2016, after having been CFO for more than 25 years. “In many everyday applications, our copper sheets are there. People are unaware, for example, that our copper is found in 95% of bank card chips. We are also very present in smartphones, but also devices for transmitting 4G signals for connected objects that serve, for example, in cars, for radars or reversing cameras.”
With the support of Luxinnovation
As a member of the Luxembourg Materials & Manufacturing Cluster managed by Luxinnovation, Circuit Foil Luxembourg is also working on several R & D projects (with a dedicated team of 10 people) and energy improvement of production processes, with the support of the teams of the National Innovation Agency.
One of these projects, called “Circuit Foil 2020”, brings together all the company’s innovation components: reduction of roughness, reduction of thickness, increase of the mechanical and physical strength of the foils and new treatments. Out of a total amount of more than 10 million euros, more than one third of the funding was subsidised by the State.
Luxinnovation, in this case, accompanied Circuit Foil in drawing up the dossier submitted to the Ministry of the Economy.
If you are interested in the activities of the Luxembourg Materials & Manufacturing Cluster, please contact manager Caroline Muller.
Luxinnovation contributes to the economic development of Luxembourg by fostering innovation, fuelling international growth and attracting foreign direct investment and is supported by: Ministry of the Economy, Ministry for Higher Education and Research, Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce, Luxembourg Chamber of Skilled Crafts and FEDIL – The Voice of Luxembourg’s Industry.
[Photo: Fedil]