Japan’s Idemitsu Kosan has announced it will build its largest organic light-emitting diode (OLED) material factory in Chengdu, Sichuan, China.
They are building their third factory in China, in addition to one in Japan and another in Korea. In Chengdu, BOE, China's largest display panel maker, is operating a sixth-generation flexible OLED plant. The construction of the factory by Idemitsu Kosan is aimed at the local demand in China. BOE is also considering additional investments.
The site of the factory in China of Idemitsu Kosan is 12,400 square meters with a maximum production capacity of 12 tons per year. The company has set up a material factory in Omaezaka City, Shizuoka, Japan in 2007, and another factory in Paju City, Gyeonggi Province, Korea in 2012. The production capacities of Japanese and Korean factories are 2 tons and 8 tons per year, respectively. China's new plant has the largest production capacity. The Chinese plant will begin mass production operations from 4Q 2019 at the earliest.
The company expects China to become the base for OLED business growth. The company also explained that they built a local factory to move promptly to local procurement. An official at Idemitsu Kosan said, "We decided to build a factory in China to fulfill our responsibilities to provide a stable supply of materials to Chinese customers," and added that “It will be the third manufacturing base after Japan and Korea."
LG Chemistry is also planning to establish an OLED material research center in Chengdu to advance into the Chinese market.
