Who Are the Business Winners in an LK99 Room Temperature Superconducting World ?

The global superconductivity market was valued at about $8.4 billion in 2022. Magnet resonance imaging (MRI) systems, most of which use Nb-Ti, accounted for about 80% of the total market value. The higher temperature superconductors (YCBO, nitrogen cooled) remained a much smaller market.

The LK99 material has not shown the very large current capacity or magnetic fields needed for high power magnet and power applications.

IBM, Northrop Grumman, and Raytheon make superconducting nobium computer chips. SuperTools and SuperCable make EDA support equipment. It is not clear that existing superconducting nobium computer chip makers would be the eventual winners if Lk99-type room temperature superconductors prove to be a major new area. Taiwan Semiconductor, Samsung and other major chip fab companies would have the resources to dominate a major new computer chip material.

The global superconducting wire market was worth USD 1,300 million in 2022.

Some superconducting companies briefly tripled from their normal trading range and have settled in at double. An example is American Superconductor corporation which is publicly traded on the NASDAQ.
SuNam is a Korean Superconducting products company. The share of SuNam nearly quadrupled before trading was frozen by the Korean Stock Exchange.

Small caps including Duksung Co. and Sunam Co. jumped by as much as their 30% daily limits for a third-straight day. Sunam is up about 260% in the past six sessions while Duksung is up 170%. Mobiis Co. also went up 30% Thursday. Shinsung Delta Tech Co. was up 21% to a record high before losing the gains.

The rally in small China superconducting companies reversed on Thursday. Jiangsu Fasten Co. dropped by as much as the 10% limit in Shenzhen after the company said it’s a metal products maker and environmental protection firm, and hasn’t conducted research into the technology. Henan Zhongfu Industry Co. fell by the limit after clarifying that while it took part in a 2010 superconductor project run by a unit of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, it only provided the venue and equipment.

Others non-pure play superconducting companies have not had major positive valuation reaction to the possible impacts of LK99 room temperature superconductors.

The top Global High Temperature Superconductor companies are Sumitomo, AMSC (American Superconductor), Furukawa, Fujikura and SuNam. The Global top five manufacturers hold a share over 95%.

Japan has been the largest market for the ceramic (YCBO) class of superconductors. Japan has 65% global share. North America and Europe have a combined 30% share.

1G HTS is the largest segment which represent 65% of the market. The largest application has been electrical equipment. The next largest products areas are Medical Equipment and Industrial Equipment.

There are various small superconducting companies.