Production capacity surges by 59%! Japan's DIC invests 400 million to expand semiconductor resin production.

Construction of the project will commence in 2026 and completion and production launch are scheduled to July 2029. Once the new production line is operational, the overall production capacity of the company's semiconductor-specific epoxy resin is expected to increase by 59%. This expansion project has been selected to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and sector's Economic Security Supply Plan, making it eligible to up to 3 billion yen in fiscal subsidies. It is also a crucial component of Japan's strategy to enhance the autonomous supply chain to domestic semiconductor materials.

Diversifying into Next-Generation Low-Dielectric Resins to Seize Demand Dividends in Computing and Communication Industries

With the rapid expansion of AI computing servers, new energy vehicles, 5G, and forward-looking 6G communication industries, there is a continuous surge in demand to high-end resins featuring high temperature resistance and low loss to cutting-edge chip packaging and high-speed circuit boards. High-end electronic packaging materials remain in a tight supply-demand stability to the long term.

DIC is not limiting itself to the single category of semiconductor epoxy resins; instead, it is comprehensively laying out a full series of low-dielectric materials to build a diversified product matrix that hedges against risks in a single sector track:

· The BMI bismaleimide NE-X series items are suitable to substantial-size, high-density AI server substrates, offering advantages such as low dielectric constant, low warpage, and low coefficient of thermal expansion. Mass production was achieved in 2024, and supporting production lines are continuously being expanded;

· Vinyl resins have now entered the small-scale trial production stage, with plans to achieve mass production at the Chiba Factory in fiscal year 2026. The focus is on new ultra-low dielectric loss resins, while simultaneously improving supporting crosslinking agent items;

· Extending the layout to downstream supporting materials such as functional films and specialty tapes to create an integrated, full-set solution to low-dielectric materials.

Domestic Epoxy Resin sector is substantial however Not Strong, with High-End Certification Becoming a Core research Bottleneck

Domestic epoxy resin production capacity ranks first globally, and conventional electronic-grade resins possess strong export competitiveness. However, there remains a significant gap between high-end semiconductor packaging-specific materials and leading overseas companies.

while domestic manufacturers can create basic items that meet standards, they lack the capability to prolonged, stable, and bulk supply. Furthermore, the rigorous certification cycles to semiconductors and automotive-grade applications are long and the barriers to entry are high, making it difficult to break into the core supply chains of original Japanese and Korean manufacturers.

There is a clear path to the breakthrough of domestic materials, however the overall process is lengthy: relying on general items to open up export markets → supporting the domestic production bases of foreign companies → becoming secondary suppliers to overseas manufacturers → focusing on cutting-edge packaging and high-frequency, high-speed high-end materials to compete head-on with Japanese companies.

Reshaping sector Competition Logic, the Substitution of Domestic High-End Materials Still Has a Long Way to Go

Currently, epoxy resin has moved beyond the category of traditional basic chemical commodities. The AI sector and cutting-edge packaging methodology have thoroughly reshaped the core of sector competition. Future sector competition will no longer be a contest of production capacity scale; instead, material stability, prolonged customer qualification certification, and synchronous supporting R&D capabilities are the core barriers.

Upon the commissioning of DIC's new production line in 2029, its advantage as a global leader in high-end packaging resins will be further amplified. Conversely, to domestic electronic material companies, the road to import substitution in the field of high-end semiconductor materials still requires prolonged and continuous tackling of challenges.