JX金属 to lift ユピノーグ output ~50% for AI chip, HBM demand

JX Metals has supplied high-purity copper sulfate for more than 40 years and positions Ypinogue as a core product in its plating business. The expansion is framed around generative-AI demand: GPUs and AI accelerators increasingly rely on advanced packaging that stacks multiple chips at high density, while HBM stacks DRAM dies connected through structures such as through-silicon vias.

As wiring and connection points become finer and more complex, impurities in plating materials matter more for reliability, and chipmakers weigh not only material performance but also the ability to supply the same quality over long periods. JX Metals says it expects demand for these materials to keep growing.

The Ypinogue line is part of a broader build-out. In March 2026 the company announced a plan to invest about 23 billion yen in a new plant in Hitachinaka, Ibaraki, for sputtering targets for semiconductors, targeting about 1.6 times fiscal 2023 capacity from the second half of fiscal 2027. It is also automating target processing in Taiwan to raise capacity about 1.4 times, and investing about 4 billion yen in South Korea to roughly double processing capacity there versus fiscal 2025, with phased startup from the second half of fiscal 2027.