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TOKYO, November 10, 2026 – Japanese metal materials manufacturer Mitsui Kinzoku Co Ltd plans to invest about RM4.87 billion in a new copper foil plant in Malaysia, to be built near its existing subsidiary in Shah Alam, as it seeks to meet demand from the artificial intelligence and semiconductor industries.
In a company notice, reported by the New Straits Times, Mitsui Kinzoku said the plant would be built near Mitsui Copper Foil (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd. It will manufacture MicroThin carrier-supported ultra-thin copper foil, used in semiconductor packaging, and VSP electrodeposited copper foil, used in high-frequency circuit boards.
Operations are scheduled to begin in phases from April 2031. “To ensure the continued stable supply of its copper foil products to customers amid the anticipated continued rapid growth of the AI and semiconductor markets, the company has decided to construct a new copper foil plant in Malaysia,” the notice said.
The total investment includes about RM360 million for land acquisition, RM82 million for building construction, and RM3.69 billion for production equipment and other assets. Mitsui Kinzoku said the investment would be funded through cash on hand, borrowings and other sources.
The new facility is planned to raise the company’s MicroThin production capacity by two million square metres a month by fiscal 2031, with a further two million square metres added by fiscal 2033. For VSP copper foil, the plant will add 600 tonnes of monthly capacity in each of fiscal years 2031 and 2032, bringing the company’s total capacity to 2,600 tonnes a month.
The company said the acquired site could accommodate production of up to 3,600 tonnes a month. It would also consider expanding combined VSP capacity across the new and existing sites to 5,000 tonnes a month as the market grows.
The project is part of a wider expansion of Mitsui Kinzoku’s copper foil business, which sits in its engineered materials segment. The company expects operating profit from that business to reach 3.2 times its fiscal 2025 level by fiscal 2030 and 5.5 times by fiscal 2033, supported by investments planned through fiscal 2030 and by the Malaysian plant. The new facility is expected to contribute to profit growth from fiscal 2031 onwards.
Mitsui Copper Foil (Malaysia) was established in 1989 and began commercial operations in 1991. The Shah Alam subsidiary manufactures high-precision copper foil for electronics, semiconductors and AI data centres. The new plant would extend that long-standing manufacturing presence in Selangor, rather than mark the company’s first move into Malaysia.
The Edge Malaysia also reported the planned investment in its coverage on November 11, including in a market round-up that listed the project among the day’s main business stories. The figures and timetable in this account follow the company notice as reported by the New Straits Times.
The project is a long-lead manufacturing investment rather than an immediate start of production. If the timetable in the notice holds, commercial operations would begin only in 2031, with further capacity additions in the two years after that. Mitsui Kinzoku has not, in the reported notice, named a main customer for the new Shah Alam lines or given a date for breaking ground.
Source: Mitsui Kinzoku’s company notice, as reported by the New Straits Times. The investment was also reported by the Sun and The Edge Malaysia.
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