Shin-Etsu Chemical to build a new production base in Japan which will become its fourth production base for semiconductor lithography materials; plans include new plant and R&D base in Isesaki City

Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Tokyo, President: Yasuhiko Saitoh) has announced that in order to expand its semiconductor lithography materials business, the company decided to build a new plant in Isesaki City in Gunma Prefecture, Japan. The new plant will become Shin-Etsu’s fourth production base for this business.

Shin-Etsu has acquired an about 150,000 ㎡ business site in the city where it will build a new manufacturing and research-and-development base for semiconductor lithography materials. After considering several potential sites for the new plant, we selected this site in close cooperation with both Gunma Prefecture and Isesaki City. We plan to invest in the new plant in phases, with the first phase of investment to be completed by 2026. The investment, including the acquisition of the land, is expected to amount to about ¥83 billion yen at the completion of the first phase of construction, and it will be funded entirely by using the company’s own funds.

We launched our photoresists business in 1997 and started production of the then-most cutting-edge KrF photoresists at our Naoetsu Plant in Niigata Prefecture, Japan. Since then, we have successfully developed and commercialized a succession of semiconductor lithography materials such as photomask blanks, ArF photoresists, multilayer materials, extreme ultraviolet (EUV) resists and others. We established the second production base in Fukui Prefecture in 2016 and the third production base in Yunlin County in the western part of Taiwan in 2019 for our semiconductor lithography materials business, and we have achieved a stable supply of these products.

Demand for semiconductor lithography materials is growing as they are indispensable materials for the manufacture of cutting-edge semiconductors, and quality requirements are continuing to increase in sophistication. In order to respond to the strong demand from our customers, we have decided to establish a fourth production site, which will enable us to diversify risks with regard to business continuity. We have positioned this site as an advanced base for semiconductor materials and plan to expand it in the future as a production base for semiconductor lithography materials and other products, including the functions of research and development.

We would like to express our deepest gratitude to Gunma Prefecture and Isesaki City for their full cooperation in this matter. Shin-Etsu Chemical will continue to focus on the development of the new base as well as its semiconductor lithography materials business in order to meet the expectations of our customers and society.