Eternal Materials, dedicated to supplying resins, electronics materials including PCB-use dry film photoresists, and specialty materials, plans to expand its production capacity outside of China, where the economic growth is slowing down and competition is intensifying, according to company sources.
The company's synthetic resin plant in Malaysia has long served as a production base for its business expansion in the Southeast Asian region. For this reason, it has acquired land adjacent to the existing factory site in preparation for its further growth, given the increasing demand in the area.
It is likely for the firm to establish production lines for dry-film photoresists and other specialty materials in Malaysia, depending on market potential, said the sources.
The sources pointed out that sales of its three major business groups – synthetic resins, electronics materials, and specialty materials – were stable in May, reaching NT$3.692 billion (US$121.84 million), or at the same levels as the previous month.
While the gross margins for May were on par with those a month earlier, the company saw its pre-tax profit decline 21.61% sequentially to NT$166 million.
As for electronics materials, sales of dry-film photoresists have been robust, accounting for a 30% market share worldwide; shipments to China account for 75% of its total photoresist sales, those to Taiwan at 12% and other markets at 13%.
Although the pace of economic recovery in China is slow, the company still expects a moderate rebound there in the third quarter, and its sales to other markets continue to be brilliant.
The company will focus on developing new products for 5G, electric vehicles (EVs), semiconductors, green energy, energy storage, and other applications.
New products on the drawing board include high-resolution dry-film photoresists and other materials for PCB and substrate production.
Article translated by Steve Shen
