Japan Chemical Firms Seeking Partnerships over Next-Gen Chips

Nagoya, Oct. 8 (Jiji Press)–Faced with a long slump in their mainline petrochemical operations, major Japanese chemical makers are working with other companies over businesses related to semiconductor materials. While chemical makers are in the middle of a structural shift with hopes to turn the semiconductor-related businesses into their new pillars of growth, the rise of generative artificial intelligence has made it challenging for them to make semiconductors more functional on their own. Therefore, they are taking measures with others, such as setting up a joint framework, to speed up the development of related materials. In September, Mitsui Chemicals Inc. offered media outlets an opportunity to tour its Creative Integration Lab, a semiconductor-related research base built at the company’s plant in the central Japan city of Nagoya. Mitsui Chemicals boasts the world’s largest share of protective tape used in the back-end process of semiconductor manufacturing, in which chips are cut from wafers. At the new research base, which was established in 2024 with an investment of around 3 billion yen, Mitsui Chemicals employees, staff from client chipmakers and researchers from both Japan and abroad work to develop and test semiconductor materials while exchanging opinions. An 1,800-square-meter clean room at the Creative Integration Lab features equipment related to the back-end process from several companies, enabling semiconductor manufacturers to assess materials without having to halt their own factory lines. The research base also includes a high-speed communication system connecting to other Mitsui Chemicals bases as well as a building offering a place for the company’s employees to exchange ideas with clients. “We hope to develop completely new products” such as materials for next-generation semiconductors, a senior Mitsui Chemicals official said. Resonac Corp., which also has a large market share in back-end semiconductor materials, has set up a joint framework with chipmaking equipment maker Tokyo Electron Ltd. and 25 other companies. Under the framework, the companies are studying technology of rectangular wafers that enable the efficient manufacturing of interposers with higher processing capacity by combining multiple chips. Resonac President and CEO Hidehito Takahashi emphasized the need for collaboration with other firms, saying, “The technology needed in semiconductors has become advanced and complex.” Such initiatives are driven by a slump in chemical makers’ mainstay petrochemical operations. The operating rates of ethylene plants have been low due to overproduction by Chinese manufacturers. In pursuit of a new source of income, Sumitomo Chemical Co. plans to increase sales of semiconductor materials by 2.5 times in fiscal 2030 from fiscal 2023. Mitsubishi Chemical Group Corp. is working to develop power-saving technology in semiconductor manufacturing. “With (chemical makers) struggling to implement structural reform in a shift away from petrochemical operations, semiconductor-related businesses are the most promising growth area (for them),” Akira Tsuboi, an analyst at Nissay Asset Management Corp., said. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]