Mitsui Mining & Smelting has announced plans to increase production of copper foil for AI infrastructure. The company will establish a new site near its Malaysian plant and expand its production system from 2031 onward.
Mitsui Mining & Smelting has announced plans to increase its production capacity for copper foil, which is seeing rising demand for AI infrastructure, to 1,200 tonnes/month by fiscal 2028 and 1,400 tonnes/month by fiscal 2030. The company has also acquired additional land near its Malaysian plant and plans to establish a new site from 2031 onward.
The products covered are VSP, electrodeposited copper foil for high-frequency substrates, and MicroThin, carrier-attached ultra-thin copper foil. Production of both products is expected to increase in response to growing demand in the AI infrastructure and semiconductor markets. VSP is copper foil that helps reduce transmission losses, while MicroThin is ultra-thin copper foil with a thickness of 1.5 μm to 5 μm.
Mitsui Mining & Smelting plans to increase VSP production capacity at its plants in Taiwan and Malaysia, targeting production of 1,400 tonnes/month in fiscal 2030. For MicroThin, the company has brought forward its plan to expand monthly production from 5.6 million m² in 2025 to 8 million m² by fiscal 2030. It plans to establish a 6 million m²/month production system during fiscal 2028 and then invest approximately ¥30 billion to increase capacity to 8 million m² during fiscal 2030.
From 2031 onward, the company will establish a new site near its Malaysian facility, producing 1,200 tonnes/month of VSP and 4 million m²/month of MicroThin. Including existing capacity, the plan targets combined production capacity of 12 million m²/month for MicroThin and approximately 2,600 tonnes/month for VSP. If the market expands in the future, the company is also considering the possibility of increasing VSP capacity to 5,000 tonnes/month.