Jiwei consulting: domestic epoxy plastic packaging material manufacturers accelerate the breakthrough, who can stand out?

Since the second half of 2019, driven by emerging applications such as 5G communications, artificial intelligence, intelligent cars, and data centers, the prosperity and market demand of the semiconductor industry have increased quarter by quarter, and the demand for semiconductor materials has also increased significantly.

According to SEMI data, the global semiconductor materials market size will reach $64.3 billion in 2021, an increase of 15.9% compared with $55.5 billion in 2020. Among them, the total revenue of wafer fabrication materials and packaging materials in 2021 was $40.4 billion and $23.9 billion, respectively, an increase of 15.5% and 16.5% year-on-year.

Among them, epoxy plastic packaging material (EMC) as one of the key raw materials in the field of packaging, along with the rise of the semiconductor industry boom, the overall market demand continues to grow, at the same time, the continuous upgrading of the Sino-US trade war has also prompted domestic packaging manufacturers to accelerate the introduction of domestic material suppliers, bringing good development opportunities to the development of the domestic plastic packaging industry, and the industrial pattern has quietly changed.

More than 95% of electronic devices are packaged in plastic

According to the data, epoxy plastic sealing material is a molding powder composed of epoxy resin and its curing agent phenolic resin and other components, which crosslinks and cures into a thermoset plastic under thermal action, and the semiconductor chip is embedded in it during the injection molding process, and it is given a certain structural shape, becoming a semiconductor device packaged in plastic.

The role of plastic packaging material is to provide structural and mechanical support, protect electronic components from environmental damage (mechanical impact, water vapor, temperature, etc.), and maintain circuit insulation.

Semiconductor packaging can be used in plastic packaging, ceramic packaging and metal packaging three, epoxy plastic packaging as a non-airtight packaging material, compared with airtight metal, ceramic packaging, easy to automate production, improve packaging efficiency, reduce costs. It has the advantages of small size, light weight, simple structure, convenient process, good chemical corrosion resistance, good electrical insulation performance and high mechanical strength, and has become the mainstream material for LED, semiconductor discrete devices and integrated circuit packaging.

At present, the most widely used packaging material at home and abroad is plastic packaging, and more than 95% of electronic devices are packaged in plastic. Epoxy molding compounds occupy more than 90% of the market share of plastic encapsulation due to their high reliability, low cost, simple production process and suitable for large-scale production.

Japanese manufacturers are far ahead, and domestic manufacturers are struggling to survive

Epoxy packaging originated in the United States in the mid-1960s, and has since flourished in Japan, and has always occupied the technological high ground, Sumitomo Bakelite is the world's leading manufacturer of epoxy molding compounds, accounting for 40% of the global market share. As the birthplace of semiconductor plastic packaging, the United States has rarely produced epoxy plastic packaging materials, while Japan, China and South Korea are the world's three major producers of semiconductor epoxy plastic packaging.

Up to now, China has become the world's largest production base of epoxy plastic packaging materials, but it is not a strong country, and high-end products still rely on imports or foreign companies' manufacturing bases in China.

Chinese mainland EMC originated from three R&D institutions such as the Institute of Chemistry of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Wuxi Chemical Research and Design Institute, and the Shanghai Fudan University, and the professional manufacturing began in the early 1980s. However, due to the imperfect industrial policy at that time, the development of the domestic epoxy plastic packaging industry faced double pressure on funds and talents.

After the 1990s, foreign brands represented by Japan's Sumitomo Bakelite and Hitachi Chemical Began to enter the Chinese market, and have built factories in China, and foreign large factories have leading advantages in technology, capital technology, experience, etc., while Chinese-funded plastic packaging manufacturers have a big gap with imported products in terms of brand, technology, product quality and consistency.

Until the outbreak of the Sino-US trade war, domestic epoxy plastic packaging enterprises are still to meet the needs of Chinese mainland low-end semiconductor packaging, can only compete with each other in low-end areas such as diodes and tertiary tubes, the price war is more serious, and survival is difficult.

At the same time, although Chinese mainland is the world's largest diode and transistor manufacturing base, there are many Chinese and foreign-funded packaging enterprises, and the requirements for plastic packaging products are quite different, and domestic epoxy plastic packaging manufacturers are still difficult to enter the supply chain of international manufacturers, and the production space is small.

The industry continues to reshuffle, who can stand out?

In recent years, with the domestic substitution and strong market demand of dongfeng, domestic packaging factories are actively importing domestic suppliers, domestic epoxy packaging manufacturers are also accelerating to the high-end field breakthrough, has basically developed in TO, DIP, SOT, SOP and other packaging forms of products mature, and continue to expand market share, in QFP, QFN, BGA, CSP, Fan-Out WLP, MUF and other packaging forms of products have also made breakthroughs.

However, due to multiple factors such as Sino-US trade frictions, market demand fluctuations, and increasingly fierce price competition, the domestic epoxy packaging material industry is accelerating the reshuffle.

In February 2017, Juhua Group, together with Wynn Group, Shengxin Fund, Shanghai Lingrui Venture Capital, etc., jointly acquired 100% of the equity of the epoxy plastic packaging business of the industry-leading Henkel Group, as well as related intellectual property rights, famous trademarks, R&D assets and marketing channels at home and abroad. On June 29, 2017, Henkel Warwick officially changed its name to Hengsho Warwick and became a Chinese-funded brand.

In March 2017, Feikai Materials acquired 60% of the equity of Changxing Electronics, a subsidiary of Changxing Group, a listed company in Taiwan, and changed the company name to "Kunshan Xingkai Semiconductor Materials Co., Ltd." to build a new epoxy plastic packaging capacity of 20,000 tons/ year.

However, Jiangsu Zhongpeng New Materials Co., Ltd., a Chinese-funded enterprise that was originally given high hopes by the industry and was invested by the three major domestic semiconductor packaging and testing manufacturers Huatian Electronics, Huada Microelectronics and Xinchao Group, failed to rise successfully and went bankrupt and liquidated in 2021.

At the same time, under the favorable conditions of the gradual improvement of the domestic capital market, Huahai Chengke and Chuangda New Materials, the leading domestic epoxy plastic packaging manufacturers, have delisted from the New Third Board and started the journey of A-share listing, and Kaihua Materials, which is still listed on the New Third Board, has also opened a listing journey on the Beijing Stock Exchange. With the help of capital, domestic epoxy plastic packaging brand manufacturers will accelerate their breakthrough to the high-end field, and the industry competition may become more intense.

Inventory of domestic mainstream epoxy plastic packaging materials enterprises

At present, there are about 20 domestic epoxy plastic packaging manufacturers, mainly including Sumitomo Bakelite (Suzhou) Co., Ltd., Celeste Electric Materials (Suzhou) Co., Ltd., Panasonic Electric (Shanghai) Electronic Materials Co., Ltd. three Japanese-funded enterprises, Taiwan-funded enterprises Changchun Feng Plastics (Changshu) Co., Ltd. and Hengsuo Warwick Electronics Co., Ltd., Jiangsu Kehua New Material Technology Co., Ltd., Jiangsu Huahai Chengke New Materials Co., Ltd., Shanghai Feikai Material Technology Co., Ltd., Wuxi Chuangda New Materials Co., Ltd., Tianjin Kaihua Insulation Material Co., Ltd., Beijing Zhongxin Taihe Electronic Material Technology Co., Ltd., Zhejiang Hengyao Electronic Materials Co., Ltd., Jiangsu Jinko Electronic Materials Co., Ltd., Tianjin JCDecaux Chemical New Materials Co., Ltd., Tianjin Shengyuanda Technology Co., Ltd., Wuxi Chemical Research and Design Institute.

Sumitomo bakelite

Sumitomo Bakelite is an internationally renowned supplier of epoxy plastic packaging materials and resin materials for semiconductors, and has been producing epoxy plastic packaging materials in China since 1997. Sumitomo Bakelite Co., Ltd. estimates that it currently has the largest global market share (about 40%) of "SUMIKON" EME (epoxy molding compounds used to encapsulate semiconductor devices).

Justi

Celeste Electric Materials (Suzhou) Co., Ltd. (renamed from Hitachi) is a subsidiary of showa Denko Group, a well-known multinational enterprise in the Japanese chemical industry. After settling in Suzhou Industrial Park in February 2005, the company is committed to the design and development of photosensitive dry film for the semiconductor packaging industry and printed circuit boards, providing high-quality supporting products for the high-tech electronics industry.

Panasonic Electrician

Panasonic Electronic Materials (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. was established on October 22, 2001, the main business scope is the production of electronic material accessories, engineering plastics, semiconductor packaging materials, high temperature resistant insulation materials (F-class) and insulation molded parts, sales of the company's own products.

Changchun seal plastic

Changchun Sealing Plastics (Changshu) Co., Ltd. was established on May 19, 2003, is a well-known domestic epoxy plastic packaging manufacturer, by taiwanese listed companies Changchun Group held 70% of the shares, Sumitomo Bakelite holding 30%. Changchun Group is the second largest petrochemical company in Taiwan, with hundreds of products, including general chemicals, synthetic resins, thermosetting plastics and high-performance engineering plastics, electronic materials, semiconductor chemicals, etc.

Hengsho Warwick

Hengsuo Warwick Electronics Co., Ltd. is an enterprise engaged in the research and development, production and sales of semiconductor and integrated circuit packaging materials. The company began to involve epoxy molding compound (EMC) business in 1983, the existing production line of 13, is the world's largest single scale advanced epoxy molding plastic manufacturers, for Texas Instruments, Infineon, ON Semiconductor, Nexperia, Changdian, Huatian, Tongfu Microelectric, Silan Micro and other domestic and foreign semiconductor and packaging and testing enterprises to provide professional services.

Beijing Kehua

Beijing Kehua New Material Technology Co., Ltd. was established in 1984 by the Institute of Chemistry of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the products currently on sale include epoxy plastic packaging for microelectronic packaging, electronic grade liquid silicone rubber, high-power LED packaging resin and other products. Since the 1980s, the company has undertaken the national "Seventh Five-Year Plan", "Eighth Five-Year" and "Ninth Five-Year Plan" epoxy plastic sealing material research projects. During the "Eleventh Five-Year Plan" period, the company has successively undertaken the national 02 major special projects of science and technology and the transformation of major scientific and technological achievements in Beijing. Jiangsu Kehua New Material Technology Co., Ltd., a production base for integrated circuit packaging materials, and a sales center, Beijing Shoukehua Microelectronics Co., Ltd., have been established.

Huahai Chengke

Jiangsu Huahai Chengke New Materials Co., Ltd. was established in December 2010, is a professional engaged in semiconductor devices, integrated circuits, special devices, LED brackets and other electronic packaging materials research and development, production, sales and technical service enterprises. The total investment of the company's project is about 320 million yuan, the first phase of investment of more than 100 million yuan, now built an international advanced epoxy molding compound pilot line, 3 large production lines, comprehensive production capacity of 15,000 tons / year, the company is currently in the second phase of the project construction, planned total investment of 60 million yuan, two new large production lines, for the production of high-end epoxy plastic sealing products. At present, the company ranks in the top three in the domestic epoxy plastic sealing material industry.

Fei Kai material

Kunshan Xingkai Semiconductor Materials Co., Ltd. (formerly Changxing Electronic Materials (Kunshan) Co., Ltd.) was established in 1996, located in Kunshan Economic Development Zone, Jiangsu Province, and became a subsidiary of Feikai Materials in March 2017. The company specializes in the production of epoxy plastic packaging materials required for semiconductor devices, integrated circuits and other packaging, and can provide standard, low-stress and high-thermal conductivity products, which is one of the main suppliers in the industry.

Chuangda New Materials

The predecessor of the company was Wuxi Chuangda Electronics Co., Ltd., which was established on October 15, 2003, and on March 4, 2015, Wuxi Chuangda was changed to Wuxi Chuangda New Materials Co., Ltd. WH series plastic sealing material annual production capacity of 15,000 tons, covering more than 100 varieties, is the domestic research and development, production of high-performance thermoset plastic sealing material scale, full variety, strong technical and economic strength of one of the enterprises.

Kaihua material

In 1997, Tianjin Kaihua Insulation Material Co., Ltd. was established, and in 2004, it completed the shareholding system reform and changed its name to Tianjin Kaihua Insulation Material Co., Ltd., which was successfully listed on the New Third Board. At present, Kaihua Materials is planning to be listed on the Beijing Stock Exchange. Kaihua Materials has been focusing on the optimization and improvement of the production process of halogen-free electronic packaging materials, providing customers with technical guidance and problem solutions.

JCDecaux

Tianjin JCDecaux Huacheng New Materials Co., Ltd. was established in 2008 and successfully listed on the New Third Board in 2015. With a focus on polymer and materials science, it provides innovative polymer packaging material solutions for the microelectronics and optoelectronics fields, and develops advanced semiconductor packaging materials such as epoxy plastic sealants, mold-clearing rubber and optical resins, and silicones.

Sino-Singapore Taihe

Founded in 2004, Beijing Zhongxin Taihe Electronic Materials Technology Co., Ltd. is a national high-tech enterprise integrating R&D, production and sales of epoxy molding compounds, mainly producing epoxy plastic encapsulation materials for discrete devices, integrated circuits and large-scale integrated circuits and optoelectronic devices. The company has a R & D team led by Professor Sun Zhongxian, the founder of the domestic plastic packaging industry, and has an advanced quality management system and customer service concept.

Sheng Yuanda

Tianjin Shengyuanda Technology Co., Ltd. specializes in the production of semiconductor and electronic components with packaging materials, the main products are epoxy plastic sealing materials, epoxy powder encapsulation material two series, there are currently more than 30 kinds of products, for discrete devices, tantalum capacitors, IC, infrared receivers, varistors, ceramic capacitors and other semiconductor components of the package protection.

Wuxi Research Institute of Chemical Industry

The predecessor of Wuxi Chemical Research and Design Institute Co., Ltd. is Wuxi Chemical Industry Research Institute, which was founded in 1958. The company is mainly engaged in the research, development and production of new polymer chemical materials in the fields of electroresist, screen printing materials, encapsulation materials, cellulose derivatives, etc., as well as chemical material detection and inspection, safety production technology consulting services.

Jiangsu Jinko

Jiangsu Jinko Electronic Materials Co., Ltd. is a private high-tech enterprise, specializing in the production of electronic packaging materials, with an annual production capacity of 2400 tons, with an automated production line specializing in the production of electronic packaging materials, and advanced testing equipment and perfect quality assurance system.

Zhejiang Hengyao

Zhejiang Hengyao Electronic Materials Co., Ltd. main products HY-E series epoxy molding compound (EPOXY MOLDING COMPOUND), products have six series (HY-E100 ~ HY-E600) hundreds of varieties, mainly with semiconductor discrete devices (diodes, transistors, bridge blocks, etc.); special devices (high-voltage silicon stacks, micro motors, etc.); small, medium, large integrated circuits (DIP, SOP, QFP, BGA and other types) plastic packaging. (Proofreading/Sami)