Chinese Passive Components Makers Boost MLCC Capacity Expansion

Chinese makers of passive components have been keen on capacity expansions for high-end MLCC capacitors, providing lucrative business opportunities for Taiwan’s equipment makers, according to industry sources.

Judging from equipment shipment pull-ins in the first half of 2020, investments by Chinese passive components makers are at least five times as much as those by their Taiwanese peers, aiming to better tap demand for 5G base station, handset and new energy vehicle applications, the sources said.

Among Chinese makers, Fenghua Advanced Technology has announced plans to invest slightly over US$1 billion to set up a new high-end MLCC production plant in Guangdong province, with its monthly capacity estimated at 45 billion pieces, three times the firm’s existing capacity. The company has also readied investment plans for 2021.

Taiwan’s leading MLCC Yageo saw its second-quarter 2020 revenues soar by over 30% sequentially due mainly to significant improvements to capacity utilization at its China plants. Walsin Technology also registered a double-digit revenue increase for the quarter. But their order visibility has been shortened to two months from one quarter as clients have gradually replenished inventory to normal levels.