The Masan High-Tech Materials Corporation (MHT) held its 2022 Annual General Meeting of Shareholders, with the theme “Growth though Sustainability”, at the Melia Hanoi Hotel on April 25, where it also shared its strategic vision for 2022-2025.

Mr. Craig Bradshaw, CEO of MHT, said it performed strongly in 2021 despite the challenges posed by Covid-19 and its subsequent impact on global supply chains and transport networks. “We posted record revenue for the year along with record tungsten production and recycling rates,” he added.

MHT’s total tungsten production increased by a record 97 per cent last year compared to 2020, while 26 per cent of production came from the recycling of tungsten scrap and 74 per cent from primary supply, including from MHT’s Nui Phao mine in northern Thai Nguyen province. Net revenues were up 86 per cent year-on-year, to VND13.5 trillion ($600 billion). Tungsten revenues were significantly higher due to the consolidation of H.C. Starck Tungsten Powders and the higher APT price for FY2021 ($286 / mtu [metric ton units]) compared to the same period last year ($222 / mtu). EBITDA increased 114 per cent in 2021, to VND3 billion ($137 million). Its forward order book is the strongest it has been in many years, which is positive for both sales volumes and prices.

2021 saw results from the successful integration with H.C. Starck’s tungsten business platform in Germany, Canada, and China, with MHT robustly carrying out technology transfer and leveraging H.C. Starck’s more than 100 years of experience while at the same time promoting global business restructuring with the goal of improving operational efficiency and expanding the business and product portfolio.

Ongoing investment in innovation and development is also delivering value, with new customer-centric products specifically tailored for the electric mobility and 3D printing segments coming on to the market soon. Beyond these new product ranges, its team has also developed new analytical equipment that is now in the prototype stage, having been patented in late 2021. In recycling, it has filed additional patent applications for a new recycling process for cobalt bearing sludges and battery black mass. This new process will enable the recycling of various hard-cutting tool sludges and battery black mass with a lower environmental footprint than current recycling processes.

With a strong commitment to investment in technology and innovation across all processing chains, MHT continues to dominate the high-tech materials manufacturing industry while gaining further acclaim at both the national and international levels, with 16 domestic patents, 87 international patents, 54 application patents, 40 ongoing scientific projects, and 32 projects in the ideation stage.

Mr. Danny Le, Chairman of MHT, shared the company’s strategic vision for 2022-2025: “In the very near future, Masan High-Tech Materials will be more than a supplier of strategic high-tech materials, partnering with disruptive consumer technology platforms to create direct-to-consumer products where tungsten is a key element. Most importantly, we envision a circular platform where we can recycle these products to drive sustainability and productivity.”

In 2022, the company will continue to focus on recycling raw materials, implementing carbon neutrality initiatives, and promoting the benefits of the circular economy. In the context of the global economic recovery after Covid-19, positive signs in the tungsten market and the shift from gasoline to electric vehicles, tungsten prices will likely go up in 2022.

The company expects to post 2022 revenue of about VND14.5-15 trillion ($644-$681 million), with pre-allocated net profit to shareholders ranging from VND300 billion ($13.1 million) to VND500 billion ($22.7 million).

Towards building a long-term sustainable business for Masan’s people and the community, MHT remains committed to “Growth through Sustainability”, striving to affirm its position and brand in the domestic market and region. In the future, MHT will not only be a supplier of strategic high-tech materials but will also focus on research and development and cooperate with the world’s leading innovative businesses to create strategic and high-tech advanced materials. It will also strive for steady improvements in its processes, to meet the ever-changing needs of high-tech industry customers. “Our ambitions remain in going downstream and building a global consumer business,” said Mr. Bradshaw. “Instead of just supplying key materials to make smartphones, motor cars, aircraft, and submarines, Masan High-Tech Materials may one day create practical consumer products for these critical industries.”

MHT is the global leader in providing advanced tungsten materials used in key industries such as electronics, chemicals, automotive, aviation and aerospace, energy, and pharmaceuticals, with production facilities in Vietnam, Germany, Canada, and China servicing the world. As the largest manufacturer of mid-stream tungsten products outside of China, the company has two research and development centers in Germany and Vietnam, and it is currently operating the Nui Phao polymetallic mine and a state-of-the art processing plant in Thai Nguyen province. It is also a globally-significant producer of fluorspar and bismuth.