KCC boosts output of semiconductor-sealing material

South Korean chemical and auto parts maker KCC Corp. is expanding its production lines for the semiconductor-sealing material epoxy molding compound (EMC) to accelerate its advance into the chip market.

The company on Tuesday held a safety ceremony at its plant in Anseong, Gyeonggi Province, to pray for no accidents or disasters at the facility's new EMC line. About 50 staff attended the event including KCC Chairman Chung Mong-jin and President Chung Jae-hoon.

EMC protects semiconductor chips, boards and wires from external heat, moisture and shock. The newly expanded plant has an EMC output capacity of 2,400 tons, and combined with the company's 8,000-capacity facility in Jeonju, North Jeolla Province, KCC has secured annual capacity of over 10,000.

The company plans to reinforce its market dominance by actively taking on EMC demand, which has grown with the global semiconductor market due to the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) and electric vehicles (EV). The Anseong plant is expected to mainly churn out high-end EMC products for power, memory and system semiconductors. 

Since becoming the nation's first entity to develop EMC in 1987, KCC has focused on technological development.

"We will foster our market dominance in core materials for cutting-edge future industries such as AI and EVs,” President Chung said. “We will focus efforts on continuous investment and R&D to expand our global competitiveness.”

Write to Byung-Keun Kim at bk11@hankyung.com