A materials-driven future enterprise that values resources and grows together with society

Since its founding in 1974, the DAECHANG Group has recorded annual operating profit growth of more than 30%, and within five decades has grown into a global mid-sized enterprise.

DAECHANG has led the localization and advancement of brass-product technology in Korea, achieving milestones such as the first domestic development and mass production of copper anodes (Cu Anode) for PCB plating and the establishment of its R&D Center in 1988. In 1997, DAECHANG successfully developed and mass-produced PCB-plating copper anodes — a product previously imported in full — generating an annual import-substitution effect of approximately KRW 10 billion. The R&D Center, founded in 1988, further strengthened the competitiveness of Korea’s brass industry through the integration of advanced technologies and collaborative R&D investments with industry, academia, and research institutions.

DAECHANG has consistently invested in capacity for growth. In 1995, the company invested approximately KRW 100 billion to import automated equipment from Japan and Germany, including electric furnaces and drawing machines, establishing a robust brass manufacturing base. The installation of additional indirect extrusion presses in 2003 expanded the company’s brass-rod production capacity to 144,000 tons per year. Accounting for 52% of Korea’s total brass-rod production capacity, DAECHANG ranks fifth globally with a 3% world-market share in brass rods, elevating the standing of Korea’s brass industry.

Other landmark achievements include securing a USD 36.5 million investment from the International Finance Corporation (IFC) in 1998, establishing the Chinese subsidiary Daechang Seowon Copper Alloy Trading in 2004, and expanding sales of eco-friendly lead-free brass for smartphone camera rings used by global manufacturers (1,300 tons per year, accounting for 50% of global market demand). In recognition of these milestones, DAECHANG received the USD 300 Million Export Tower Award in 2008.

As a representative of Korea’s mid-sized enterprises, DAECHANG has actively engaged with relevant institutions. The company participated in the Committee for the Legislation of Mid-Sized Enterprises in 2008 and a series of National Assembly policy forums for mid-sized enterprise legislation in 2013, contributing to the enactment of the Special Act on the Promotion of Mid-Sized Enterprises in 2014 and the refinement of related systems.

DAECHANG has responded swiftly to the changing demands of the times. In line with the rising importance of ESG management in the 2020s, the company built a smart eco-friendly factory in 2020, minimized manufacturing pollutants, expanded its melting-furnace dust-collector inverter system with an investment of KRW 2.2 billion, and reduced air-pollutant emissions by 40% — taking the lead in greenhouse-gas reduction. On the social front, DAECHANG extended the retirement age to 62 to support employment stability, and actively pursued CSR activities in community development and the cultivation of future generations.

Since marking its 50th anniversary in 2024, DAECHANG has continued to grow as one of Korea’s leading copper-alloy rolling enterprises, exporting brass rods to more than 20 countries and operating 11 affiliated companies. Having entered the brass-materials market in 1974, DAECHANG has shaped the history of Korea’s brass industry ever since.

Brass products, though often unseen, are deeply embedded in nearly every aspect of daily life. Having achieved the domestic production of brass — a material that quietly underpins our daily lives — DAECHANG holds as its guiding principle that “trust built on honesty is the company’s greatest asset.” Through continuous investment and dedicated effort, DAECHANG now leads the broader industries built on copper, copper alloys, and other foundational materials with world-class quality.

“A materials-driven future enterprise that values resources and grows together with society” — this is who DAECHANG is today. Through company-wide cultural transformation, cost-reduction initiatives and other management innovations, alongside relentless R&D and quality-improvement efforts, DAECHANG is moving steadily toward its long-term goal of becoming a “100-year company.” By expanding into advanced, high-value-added sectors such as environmentally driven materials industries, DAECHANG is taking shape as a truly world-class enterprise in both name and substance.

Brass is culture
a beautiful name for what gives our lives value. And alongside brass stands DAECHANG, shaping a richer everyday culture and more meaningful lives.