MAINBOARD-LISTED Nico Steel Holdings on Monday said it has received approval for its patent on the electroplating process of an aluminium alloy with copper, for a period of 20 years, starting from June 2019.

The patent was granted by the National Intellectual Property Administration in the People's Republic of China.

This patented process is being used to produce one of the group's key proprietary alloy products known as NICO-CCU, the company said in a press statement.

The aluminium-copper alloy (NICO-CCU) is currently used for thermal application and antenna application to manage the heat and surface electrical conductivity of laptops and tablets, Nico Steel said.

It added that the aluminium alloy used for this product has the flexibility to use another of the group's key proprietary aluminium alloy product - NICO AL50 - as a base material.

According to the company's March announcement, NICO AL50 is of "high strength, good thermal conductivity and light weight". It is currently applied to the rear cover of LED display panels, as well as electromagnetic interference management and thermal management solutions (collectively, known as 'shielding solutions') for smartphones, drones and laptops among other things, said Nico Steel.

Danny Tan, executive chairman and president of Nico Steel, said: "We are appreciative of our customers who are willing to try out our proprietary and innovative metallurgical materials in their new electronic mobile devices.

"At Nico, we continue to provide our best possible solutions in metallurgical and materials, to meet the evolving requirements of the wide range of electronics and mobile devices, for our diverse customers in the communications, automotive and consumer electronics sectors."

Steven Tang, executive director of Nico Steel, who heads the group's material solutions and innovation division said: "Having a variety of tested and specific base alloys under our proprietary product range enables Nico the capability and flexibility to create and produce 'a single metal with cross or multi-properties', to cater to the rising demand for improved functionality and performance of our customers' products."

Nico Steel shares last traded flat at 0.4 Singapore cent on Friday.