The main application areas of photoresist are in the two fields of semiconductors and display panels, and the localization progress of domestic photoresist is relatively slow, which has become an industrialization problem that needs to be overcome urgently in China.
At present, the display panel photoresist can be divided into 6 categories:
TFT positive photoresist (for thin-film transistor arrays)
Photoresist for touch (used for sensor bridging and routing in touch panels, which can be classified as a kind of padding)
Color photoresist and black photoresist (for making color filters or films)
Padding material photoresist (mainly refers to the production of liquid crystal layer isolation support, but also for olED in the isolation column production, etc.)
OC photoresist (for the production of flattened insulating protective layers in LCD and OLED).
In addition to the TFT positive photoresist, the rest of the display panel photoresist is mainly based on negative glue.
LCD production capacity has been transferred to China, accelerating the localization of photoresists
At present, the domestic panel demand is strong, manufacturers actively build panel production capacity, greatly stimulating the demand for the upstream supply chain, panel photoresist industry as an important part of the panel supply chain, the domestic market is monopolized by international manufacturers, and it is urgent for domestic enterprises to break through the restrictions.
In September 2020, JSR Co., Ltd., a leading global photoresist manufacturer, announced that it plans to withdraw from part of the LCD material market, close its factory in Taiwan, reduce the production capacity of its plant in South Korea, and transfer the supply of colored light resistance, polarizable gap particles, protective films, and insulating films to the Japanese factory and the Chinese mainland factory for the supply of colored light resistance, photo-sensitive gap particles, protective films, and insulation films that Chinese mainland the market demand.
JSR's move also indicates that the LCD panel market has shifted to China. Coincidentally, the earthquake in Japan a few days ago may affect the supply of upstream materials for photoresist, in addition, with the eastward shift of the global semiconductor industry, coupled with the continuous growth of downstream demand and policy support in the mainland, the localization of photoresist is just in time.
According to trendbank (TrendBank) statistics, the mainland has nearly 10 companies to develop and supply display panel photoresist, but from the downstream application of the product, concentrated in the domestic supply of LCD photoresist, in the OLED products have basically not yet achieved localization, mainly imported, although the current domestic OLED photoresist demand accounts for only about 1.5%, but in the future with the synchronous construction of OLED production capacity, the mainland OLED photoresist demand penetration rate will grow rapidly.
Domestic enterprise display panel photoresist layout
In contrast, in the domestic display panel photoresist market, the main domestic enterprises that have achieved stable supply are: Yake Technology, Beixu Electronics, Xinyihua, Dingcai Technology, CLP Rainbow, Feikai Materials and Boyan Electronics. In the upstream raw materials, the domestic domestic in addition to electronic solvents is basically in a blank state.
Source: Shiyin "Analysis of domestic competition pattern of photoresist for display panels" special research report
Jacques Technologies
Founded in 1997, Jacques Technologies' main businesses currently include electronic materials, liquefied natural gas (LNG) insulation sheets and flame retardants. Among them, the photoresist business is mainly carried out through the operating entity Korea Cotem Company and the Korean Siyang Specific.
The main products of Cotem in South Korea include TFT-PR positive photoresist, lithography process auxiliary materials (developer, thinning fluid and cleaning fluid, etc.), BM resin, etc.; South Korea Siyang mainly deals in color photoresist. The company has mastered the development technology, production process and world-renowned key customer resources of color photoresist and TFT-PR photoresist at the same time. The company's photoresist products are mainly used in high-generation LCD displays and OLED displays.
As far as customers are concerned, the overseas customers of Jacques's current photoresist business have Samsung in addition to LG display. At the same time, the market for Chinese mainland has also been launched, and with the production line of customers put into production, the company's sales in the Chinese mainland market will continue to grow in the future.
At present, well-known panel manufacturers including Huaxing Optoelectronics, Huike, BOE, Shenzhen Tianma and AUO Optoelectronics are supplying in batches, while OLED photoresist products are also in the testing and certification stage. The 3,000-ton color photoresist production line of subsidiary Siyang in South Korea is gradually put into operation, and the production cost of color photoresist will be gradually reduced as the new production line is put into operation, increasing the profitability of color photoresist.
Beixu Electronics (Tongcheng New Materials Shareholding)
Founded in 1994, Beijing Beixu Electronic Materials Co., Ltd. (BAE) is the first local manufacturer of TFT-LCDArray photoresist in Chinese mainland, and the largest local supplier of LCD positive photoresist in China. The main business is the production and sales of positive photoresist for Array in the display panel industry, and the existing products meet the requirements of mainstream panel technology such as A-Si, IGZO, OLED, etc., and at the same time achieve mass production and sales performance in all production lines of G4.5~G10.5.
Beixu Electronics in the domestic largest panel customer BOE market share of more than 45%, domestic market share of nearly 20%, global market share of about 9%, with the active promotion of other domestic panel other head customer introduction test and Halftone product breakthrough, the product has covered all layers of TFT-LCD panel.
Xin Yihua
Fuyang Xinyihua Material Technology Co., Ltd. was established in May 2013, the company is mainly engaged in display photoresist, IC photoresist, liquid crystal materials, OLED and other electronic materials, pharmaceutical materials and cutting-edge materials and other three major areas of product development, production, sales and service. Specializing in providing solutions for the localization of key raw materials in the display industry such as TFT-LCD and OLED and the upstream of the integrated circuit industry.
In the field of photoresist, Xinyihua is the first enterprise in China with independent intellectual property rights to realize the mass production of negative photoresist materials for flat panel displays. At present, Xinyihua color and black photoresist are stablely supplied in many 8.5 generation lines and 10.5 generation lines, and the annual shipment of products exceeds 1,000 tons;
In addition, Xinyihua's newly developed low-temperature photoresist products can be applied to OLED, AR/VR display and other fields, which can meet all the current PPI uses, can adapt to folding, scrolls, AR/VR and other application scenarios, and achieve innovative breakthroughs in the application field of photoresist materials, which is the first in China.
Since 2021, the company has further developed the OLED field, low temperature photoresist can be baked at 85 ° C, to achieve 100% DCI-P3 coverage, to meet all the current PPI use and other performance, has been affirmed by customers, completed mass production.
Fei Kai material
Founded in 2002, Shanghai Feikai Material Technology Co., Ltd. is a domestic industry leader in the fields of liquid crystal display materials, optical communication ultraviolet curing materials, semiconductor manufacturing and packaging materials. The company's photoresist products are mainly used in the field of TFT-LCD liquid crystal display panels, and downstream customers include leading enterprises such as BOE and Huaxing Optoelectronics, as well as subsidiaries of SMIC.
In the field of screen display, while the sales volume of Feikai material LIQUID crystal and positive photoresist is growing rapidly, the new product negative photoresist will start large-scale sales in the second half of 2021, thus making the operating income of screen display materials grow rapidly and promoting the performance growth in 2021. Recently, Feikai Materials announced the 2021 annual performance forecast, the company is expected to achieve a net profit attributable to shareholders of listed companies in 2021 of 345 million yuan - 402 million yuan, an increase of 50% - 75% compared with the same period last year.
At the same time, the company's 5000t/aTFT-LCD photoresist project is stable supply to customers, the capacity of 5500t/a synthetic new material project and 100t/a high-performance optoelectronic new material purification project is steadily increasing, and the experimental capacity and production line construction of OLED materials are also advancing in an orderly manner.
Dingcai Technology
Founded in 2013, Beijing Dingcai Technology Co., Ltd. is a high-tech enterprise engaged in the research and development, production, sales and technical services of new electronic materials, and is committed to the development and innovation of new material products in the field of optoelectronics. In the main products OLED organic luminescent materials and color photoresist materials in the industry leader.
After years of technical research in the field of color photoresist for display, Dingcai Technology has stabilized the mass production and supply of TCL Technology in 2020, and successfully achieved a "zero breakthrough" in the mass production of domestic color photoresist.
In April 2021, Dingcai completed a new round of financing of hundreds of millions of yuan, and this round of financing will help Dingcai Technology to further deepen its cultivation and layout in the field of OLED organic luminescent materials, photoresists and other new electronic information materials.
CLP Rainbow
Xianyang CLP Rainbow Group Holdings Limited was established in 2013. According to Tianyancha, its shareholders are China Electronics Co., Ltd. and Rainbow Group Co., Ltd.
It is understood that on May 16, 2017, CLP Rainbow and Merck of Germany officially signed a contract to cooperate and invested 58 million yuan to build a rainbow positive photoresist project. The project completed equipment commissioning and trial production on June 30, 2018, and was officially put into operation on July 17. The production and sales situation of cathode materials is gratifying, and the full production is full of sales. At the same time, the introduction of an integrated innovation mechanism integrating production, education and research, and the joint construction of co-creation centers with famous universities such as Northwest University and Xigong University, have laid the foundation for improving the scientific research strength of the new material industry.
At present, CLP Rainbow has realized the downstream supply of TFT positive glue, and the production capacity of TFT positive rubber is 1800 tons / year.
Bo Yan Electronics
Boyan Electronic Technology Co., Ltd. was established on July 15, 2014 with a registered capital of 225 million yuan. The company mainly develops, produces and sells photoresist products for LCD display and semiconductors, and currently the main products include vinyl (BM), color glue (RGB), positive glue and OC rubber products, and continues to develop PS glue, BCS glue and semiconductor photoresist products.
At present, Boyan Company has an annual output of 1800 tons of black photoresist products production capacity and an annual output of 1000 tons of color photoresist production capacity. At present, the company is planning the second phase of the project, it is expected that after the completion of the project, the annual production capacity of color photoresist will reach 5,000 tons, and the annual production capacity of positive photoresist will reach 3,000 tons.
In addition, the silver film chain specially sorted out 36 display panel photoresist manufacturing enterprises for all readers to understand and discuss.
Source: Silver Film Chain