Sumitomo Chemical to Build Photoresist Technology Center at Osaka Works

Sumitomo Chemical will construct a six-story facility at its Osaka Works to consolidate manufacturing, quality, and analysis functions for advanced EUV and ArF semiconductor photoresists, targeting completion by end of fiscal 2027.

OSAKA — Sumitomo Chemical said April 9 it will build a six-story technology center at its Osaka Works in Konohana-ku to strengthen supply of photoresists for advanced chips, with construction due to finish by the end of fiscal 2027.

The building will pull together manufacturing process management, quality checks, and analysis for extreme ultraviolet (EUV) and argon fluoride (ArF) photoresists — functions now scattered across the site. The company aims for tighter process control, faster mass-production startup, and steadier quality. It did not disclose the investment.

Key facts

• Location: 3-1-98 Kasugadenaka, Konohana-ku, Osaka
• Scale: six stories, roughly 3,200 square meters of floor space
• Function: process management, quality evaluation, and analysis for EUV/ArF resists
• Completion: end of fiscal 2027 (planned)

The move follows development and evaluation facilities Sumitomo built at the same site in 2022. The company also runs photoresist manufacturing lines in Japan and South Korea, and says sales of EUV and ArF resists are climbing.

Why it matters: Photoresists form the circuit patterns that make advanced logic and memory chips possible, and Japan supplies much of the world’s output. Concentrating development, production, and analysis in Osaka tightens that position as AI and data-center demand grows. Construction completes by the close of fiscal 2027.