S. Korea to impose antidumping duties on Chinese butyl acrylate

effect on Sept. 28 and run through Sept. 27, 2031. A formal probe was launched in September 2025 following a complaint filed by LG Chem Ltd. The domestic market was estimated at about 100 billion won ($73

LG Energy Solution Secures Multi-Year Supply of U.S.-Produced Lithium Carbonate from Smackover Lithium

SEOUL, South Korea, Aug. 31, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- LG Energy Solution (KRX: 373220) today announced it has signed a multi-year binding offtake agreement with Smackover Lithium for battery-quality

Londian Wason Leads Global Advanced Copper Foil Sector, Dual Growth Engines Anchor Long-Term Value

NEW YORK, Aug. 25, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Londian Wason New Energy Technology Group (NYSE: FOIL), a global manufacturer of electrodeposited copper foil for electric vehicle batteries and printed circuit boards, completed its initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange on August 12, 2026. With an operating history spanning more than two decades, the company's strategic value is being redefined as the global computing race shifts from chip performance to upstream critical materials. Investors signaled strong confidence in the industry leader on its trading debut. Londian Wason's shares opened higher and surged to an intraday peak of $28.49 before closing at $24.50. The stock posted an 11.36% gain on its first day of trading. As mainland Chinese manufacturers shift production toward high-end HVLP and ultra-thin foils, Londian Wason is positioned at the intersection of two structural growth drivers: global clean-energy electrification and AI computing infrastructure expansion. Markets frequently label the company strictly as a "battery materials supplier". This label understates Londian Wason's core strength in precision manufacturing of advanced copper-based materials, covering both ultra-thin lithium-ion battery foils and low-roughness PCB foils. Such manufacturing capability has taken on heightened strategic value in the AI era. Goldman Sachs projects demand for HVLP copper foil to expand at a 97% compound annual growth rate, with AI-server-driven demand jumping more than sixfold between 2025 and 2028. Londian Wason's proprietary HVLP foil achieves a surface roughness below 0.6μm, while its RTF foil registers under 1.5μm, supplying 5G communications, AI servers, and high-speed data centers. Meanwhile, rising global EV adoption and energy‑storage deployments continue to anchor baseline demand for lithium‑battery copper foil. Benefiting from dual growth curves—a stable base in electrification alongside high-margin upside from AI infrastructure—Londian Wason has expanded its top-line revenue and bottom-line profits, driving a valuation re-rating from a traditional materials supplier toward a core technology hardware supply chain play. Londian Wason enters this upcycle with a strong financial profile. In 2025, the company topped global lithium‑ion battery copper‑foil sales at 111,985 metric tons. For the first quarter ended March 31, 2026, revenue rose 113.71% year-over-year to RMB 4.07 billion, while net profit reached RMB 134.5 million. While the broader copper foil sector has rebounded from its downturn, Londian Wason outperforms regional peers on both scale and profitability. South Korea's Lotte Energy Materials posted Q1 2026 revenue of KRW 159.8 billion (up 1.2% YoY) and remained in an operating loss. Solus Advanced Materials recorded Q1 revenue of KRW 192.6 billion (up 22.2% YoY) but also stayed unprofitable. In Japan, Mitsui Mining & Smelting generated JPY 21.0 billion in Q1 copper foil sales—up 37.1% YoY on AI-driven PCB demand—though group-wide growth remained limited. Londian Wason's market leading position and global operational footprint allow it to maximize capacity utilization and benefit materially from the cyclical industry recovery. Behind these financial results lies a high barrier to entry rooted in precision manufacturing. Electrolytic copper foil production involves dozens of chemical and physical processes, including additive formulations, solution purification, current density control, and surface modification. Over years of high-volume production, Londian Wason has accumulated proprietary process parameters and formulas which cannot be easily replicated through capital expenditure alone. These strengths secure its long‑term advantages in production yield and product consistency. Meanwhile, Londian Wason has built a top-tier global client ecosystem with key partners including LG Energy Solution, Panasonic Industrial Devices, and Samsung SDI. Londian Wason has partnered with LG for over a decade, earning its "S-Class Supplier" designation in 2024. It also maintains a 12-year supply relationship with Panasonic, a core partner in NVIDIA's high-performance computing supply chain. Deep integration within global computing and new-energy networks made an NYSE listing a natural strategic step, granting direct access to international capital and multinational clients. What supports this global expansion is a sector-leading annual design capacity of 180,500 metric tons as of year-end 2025 across seven domestic production bases, capable of supplying a full spectrum of battery and PCB foils. For Londian Wason, the NYSE listing is more than a financing milestone. It marks a key step toward deeper overseas local‑capacity build‑outs and strengthens its global‑competitive position across both international capital and industrial landscapes.

LG Chem maps W15tr R&D push beyond petrochemicals

Company targets chips, mobility, batteries, oncology, as it reshapes portfolio around future-growth sectors LG Chem is doubling down on transformation from a petrochemical-focused company into a

LG to Unveil Its Next-Gen Humanoid Robot, Built on NVIDIA Isaac GR00T

LG and NVIDIA Collaboration Moves Beyond Strategic Blueprints into Execution SEOUL, South Korea, Aug. 14, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- LG today announced they're developing a next-generation bipedal humanoid

LG to Unveil Its Next-Gen Humanoid Robot, Built on NVIDIA Isaac GR00T

LG and NVIDIA Collaboration Moves Beyond Strategic Blueprints into Execution SEOUL, South Korea, Aug. 14, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- LG today announced they're developing a next-generation bipedal humanoid

EU imposes anti-dumping tariffs on terephthalic acid from South Korea, Mexico

protect producers in Belgium, Poland and ⁠Spain. The so-called anti-dumping new duties ​were set at a range between 6.1 percent ‌and 13.3 percent on the ‌commodity ‌made in South ‌Korea and at 24.1 percent

LG’s Exaone beats Google, Alibaba in AI benchmarks

and Alibaba. The benchmarks measure how well AI models make predictions using data from industries such as chemicals, healthcare, finance and manufacturing. Exaone Tabular, LG’s foundation model for

US-Iran conflict enters new phase as Saudi Arabia helps hit proxies and diplomacy stalls again

past several months between insisting a deal was near to end the war and Tehran's nuclear program and then using vulgarities and threats to get Iran to capitulate to US demands — to no avail. The stakes

Newborn Town Announces 1H2026 Operating Data: Global Expansion and AI Drive Revenue Growth of over 34%

HONG KONG, July 22, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Newborn Town, a leading global social entertainment company, released its unaudited operating data for the first half of 2026. For the six months ended 30 June 2026, the company's total revenue is estimated to reach US$595 million to US$615 million, representing a year‑on‑year increase of approximately 34.3% to 38.8%, continuing a strong growth momentum. Revenue from social networking business amounted to approximately US$530 million to US$545 million, representing a year-on-year increase of approximately 34.2% to 38.0%. Revenue from innovative business recorded approximately US$65 million to US$70 million, representing a year-on-year increase of approximately 35.4% to 45.8%. This is the first time the company has presented its operating data in United States dollar. Rapid Growth in Social Networking Business as Flagship Products Expand Globally According to the announcement, revenue from social networking business continued to grow, mainly driven by the company's ongoing global expansion and full‑chain AI applications, supporting the steady growth of its flagship products. Since the beginning of the year, the company has continued to expand its global footprint around its core social networking business, maintaining its leading position in various markets such as MENA and Southeast Asia, while accelerating expansion into high-growth and high-value markets including Latin America, Japan, South Korea, Europe and the United States, further reinforcing its position as a leading player in the global social entertainment industry. The company's flagship products have made positive progress in new market expansion. TopTop continues to leverage its UGC ecosystem advantage, becoming a household-name app in GCC markets such as Saudi Arabia, and ranking among the top in its category globally. With continually improved product quality and deeper local operations, TopTop made significant progress in high‑value markets such as Japan and Europe. It also entered the iOS Top 10 free casual games in Japan for multiple times during the first half of the year, according to DianDian Data. The company's diverse-audience social networking business also maintained steady growth. HeeSay, its global community platform, continued to strengthen its presence in Southeast Asia, consistently ranking among the Top 10 in social app in countries including Vietnam and the Philippines. A recent research report noted that Newborn Town's core competitive moat lies in its highly localized and operation‑intensive barriers, its monetization model centered on social spending, and its ability to diversify risk through a "bush-like" portfolio of social apps. Together, these strengths form a differentiated advantage that is difficult for competitors to replicate in the short term. AI Advancements Fuel Strong Momentum Across Innovation Business The company's innovative business delivered strong growth momentum in the first half of the year, primarily driven by the rapid expansion of its short drama business, supported by AI-powered content production and operations. In the first half of the year, the company steadily advanced its short drama business across multiple global markets, including Europe and the United States, while accelerating the integration of AI technology into short drama production. Playlet, its short-form drama app, continued to broaden its presence in high‑value markets such as the United States, Japan and South Korea, achieving significant growth in its user base. Earlier this year, Playlet became one of the first partner platforms to integrate Seedance 2.0. According to TikTok's short drama Q1 revenue report, one of the company's hit titles ranked second on the platform by first-month revenue. With AI significantly improving short drama production efficiency, Newborn Town is well positioned to capitalize on its strengths in localized operations and user acquisition, while further enriching its social entertainment content ecosystem. The company's other innovative businesses also maintained steady progress. Its quality games maintained solid momentum, with flagship titles sustaining long-term operations and generating stable profit contributions, while the commercialization of new titles progressed smoothly. The social e-commerce business continued to deepen its presence in specialized verticals and enhance its product and service capabilities, providing further support for the growth of the innovative business. In recent years, the company has continued to deepen the application of AI technologies across the entire business chain, spanning R&D and operations, while steadily improving its AI capabilities. Its self-developed multimodal algorithm model, Boomiix, continues to upgrade, improving the accuracy of social matching and the intelligence of operations. The company's Siyu AI, an internal data intelligence platform, significantly shortened turnaround times for data queries, anomaly analysis, and report generation. Its proprietary AI-powered design platform KIVI has also greatly enhanced both the efficiency and diversity of content production, including virtual gifts and marketing creatives. Alongside strengthening its underlying AI capabilities, the company continued to expand the commercial application of AI. Aippy, an AI-powered gaming community incubated by the company, secured tens of millions of US dollars in independent financing at a post-money valuation of US$250 million. The platform has recorded nearly four million downloads worldwide, with daily active users increasing approximately sixfold since the beginning of the year and user retention ranking among the industry's strongest. Meanwhile, NUSD Pay, the company's AI agent payment initiative, commenced commercial operations, further broadening the range of AI-powered use cases. The company also continued to expand its strategic investment portfolio across the AI sector, investing in projects spanning world models and AI-native game engines, as well as AI interactive gaming and AI-powered advertising and marketing, further strengthening its AI application ecosystem. During the first half of the year, the company continued its share repurchase and cancellation. In March, Newborn Town announced to allocate approximately HK$ 300 million over the next two years for share repurchases. During the reporting period, the company completed two rounds of share cancellations, involving an aggregate of approximately 10.206 million repurchased shares with total consideration of approximately HK$ 85.126 million. In addition, on July 9, the company announced that it had repurchased shares from the market under the NBT Restricted Share Unit Scheme to support its long-term employee incentive program, for a total consideration of approximately HK$39.838 million. In March, Newborn Town was officially included in the list of eligible securities under the Stock Connect, further broadening access for mainland investors. Since its inclusion, the company has seen significantly stronger market attention and trading activity, with average trading value increased about twofold compared with the three months prior to inclusion. The company's shareholder base has continued to diversify, providing a solid foundation for its stable long-term growth.