Teijin Sets Up Subsidiary to Produce, Market Specialty Film Used in Advanced Ceramic Capacitors
Teijin Ltd., one of Japan's leading makers of synthetic fibers, chemicals and pharmaceuticals, plans to set up a subsidiary company handling the production, sales and marketing of Solufill®, an ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene film used to manufacture advanced multilayer ceramic capacitors (MLCC).
Teijin will invest 6.5 billion yen to construct a production facility at its former fiber plant in Matsuyama, Ehime Prefecture, on the island of Shikoku. The plant will start production of Solufill® in October 2003 and will have annual capacity of about 15 million square meters.
The subsidiary, Teijin Solufill Co., Ltd., will be set up following Teijin's decision to buy DSM Solutech Co., Ltd.'s 50 percent stake in DSM Teijin Solutech Co., Ltd., a joint venture the two companies established in 1997. Teijin Solufill will be made into a wholly-owned subsidiary and begin operations from January 2002.
Originally developed by DSM Group, Solufill® is an extremely strong, thin film that can be filled with a variety of inorganic materials, and is well suited for use in new manufacturing processes for high-capacity MLCCs.
As they become increasingly miniaturized and capable of carrying higher capacity, MLCCs are gradually replacing other types of capacitors in electronic equipment such as audiovisual equipment, computers, mobile communications and car electronics.
Teijin believes that the market for MLCCs has excellent growth prospects in the medium and long term and judges that the corresponding potential of Solufill® within this market is also substantial.
Many of the world's leading capacitor makers are headquartered in Japan, and some have already begun to use Solufill® in the mass production of next-generation MLCCs. Since these companies tend to keep the majority of their key functions, including product development, within Japan, Teijin expects that the new subsidiary and production facility will give it increased flexibility and capacity to meet the needs of these customers.
In addition to demand from multilayer ceramic capacitors, Teijin expects that different versions of Solufill® impregnated with a variety of inorganic materials will stimulate demand in other thin-film applications.
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