Key facts
- Asahi Kasei is building a new plant in Taiwan to process materials for semiconductor package substrates.
- The expansion aims to increase local capacity by 40% to meet demand for AI chips.
- The company's photosensitive polyimide (PSPI) products, Pimel™ and Sunfort™, are essential for advanced packaging technologies.
- Asahi Kasei received the 2025 TSMC Excellent Performance Award for its PIMEL™ material.
- The company is also investing in domestic facilities to double output of insulating materials by fiscal 2030.
Asahi Kasei is set to establish a processing plant in Taiwan for materials used in semiconductor package substrates, a move that will boost local capacity by 40% and address the escalating demand for artificial intelligence chips. This expansion is a strategic response to the burgeoning AI semiconductor market, which is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 18.11% from 2025 to 2033.
The company's photosensitive polyimide (PSPI) products, including Pimel™ and Sunfort™, are crucial for advanced packaging technologies such as 3D stacking and chiplets, which are essential for high-performance computing and edge AI applications. These materials enable ultra-fine patterning, thermal stability, and low dielectric loss required for complex AI accelerators like GPUs and TPUs.
Asahi Kasei's commitment to scaling production is further demonstrated by its December 2024 commissioning of a new plant in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan, and a recent investment of 16 billion yen ($108 million) in domestic facilities aimed at doubling output by fiscal 2030. The company's financial strength, bolstered by a significant operating profit, supports these capital-intensive projects.
Recently, Asahi Kasei received the 2025 TSMC Excellent Performance Award for its PIMEL™ material, highlighting its critical role in the AI supply chain and advanced packaging solutions like TSMC's CoWoS. This recognition underscores the growing importance of materials science in the semiconductor industry's pursuit of performance gains beyond traditional Moore's Law scaling.