Showa Denko K.K. (SDK) recently announced that it has decided to establish its subsidiary’s 2nd factory in Shanghai to produce high-purity gases for electronics.

Shanghai Showa Electronics Materials (SSE), which is SDK’s wholly owned subsidiary, acquired a right to use a site for its 2nd factory adjacent to the 1st factory for 50 years, and will establish facilities to produce high-purity nitrous oxide (N2O) and high-purity octafluorocyclobutane (C4F8) gases and a dangerous goods warehouse to stock high-pressure gases. The 2nd factory will start its operations in the second half of 2021.

In addition, since the market for semiconductor chips in Taiwan is also expected to expand, SDK’s subsidiary “Taiwan Showa Chemicals Manufacturing” will establish a new facility to produce high-purity C4F8 with annual production capacity of 150t.

The new facility is scheduled to be start-up in the spring of 2020. Total amount of investment to establish new facilities in Shanghai and Taiwan is about 3 billion yen.