Key facts
- Mitsui Kinzoku said the plant will cost 190 billion yen ($1.2 billion), funded from internal reserves and borrowings.
- The company said the plant is to begin partial operation in April 2031.
- Mitsui Kinzoku said MicroThin capacity is planned at 12 million square meters per month in fiscal 2033, 2.4 times fiscal 2025.
- Mitsui Kinzoku said VSP capacity is planned at 2,600 tons per month in fiscal 2033, 3.6 times fiscal 2025.
- The company said VSP capacity could reach 3,600 tons per month using the new land, and 5,000 tons including other sites.
Japanese metal materials maker Mitsui Kinzoku said on November 10, 2026 that it plans to spend 190 billion yen ($1.2 billion) to build a new copper foil factory in Malaysia to meet demand linked to artificial intelligence, the company said.
The investment breaks down into 144 billion yen ($911.7 million) for production equipment, 32 billion yen ($202.6 million) for buildings and 14 billion yen ($88.6 million) for land, funded from internal reserves and borrowings, according to a report by BigGo Finance. The company will acquire new land near its existing site and plans to bring the plant into partial operation starting in April 2031.
The plant will produce two types of copper foil. MicroThin, an extremely thin foil used to form fine circuitry on semiconductor package substrates, is planned at 12 million square meters per month in fiscal 2033, 2.4 times the fiscal 2025 level. VSP, a smooth-surfaced foil that reduces transmission loss in printed circuit boards, is planned at 2,600 tons per month, 3.6 times fiscal 2025. Mitsui Kinzoku said VSP capacity could be expanded to 3,600 tons per month using the newly acquired land, and up to 5,000 tons per month including other sites, depending on demand.
BigGo Finance reported that Mitsui Kinzoku is said to hold a near-monopoly on the global share of MicroThin foil, with demand intensifying for optical transceivers that switch server-to-server communications from electrical to optical signals.