Kaneka to Triple Graphite Sheet Production Capacity

June 25, 2018

Osaka- Kaneka Corp. said Monday that it will triple its annual production capacity for high thermal conductive graphite sheets by spring 2019 with an investment of some 11 billion yen.

Through the move, the chemical maker based in the city of Osaka, western Japan, hopes to meet growing demand for the sheets, used in such products as smartphones and other mobile devices, as well as in-vehicle and medical equipment.

Specifically, the company plans to expand facilities at Tochigi Kaneka Corp., a unit in the city of Moka in the eastern Japan prefecture of Tochigi.

Kaneka will also enlarge its plant in Otsu, the capital of the western prefecture of Shiga, which makes ultraheat-resistant polyimide films, a material of the graphite sheets. The firm's annual production capacity for the films will increase by some 30 pct.

The thermal conductivity of the graphite sheets is three times that of copper, according to Kaneka. Jiji Press