# Doosan commits $725 million to expand AI chip laminate lines *The South Korean conglomerate will spend 968.4 billion won through 2028 across domestic and Chinese sites to meet surging demand for high-end printed circuit board materials.* **Published:** September 18, 2026 **By:** Ji-woo Han **Section:** Semiconductors & AI Hardware — South Korea **Format:** Company Watch **Confidence:** medium **Source:** https://eastasiabrief.com/semiconductors/doosan-commits-725-million-expand-ai-chip-laminate-lines-311 **Publisher:** East Asia Brief (https://eastasiabrief.com/) --- ## What to know - Doosan approved a 968.4 billion won investment on Sept. 17, 2026, to expand AI copper clad laminate lines - Overseas unit in Changshu receives 547.4 billion won while 421.0 billion won expands domestic optical module capacity - Commercial operation begins sequentially in the second half of 2028 following 100% utilization in 2026 ![Workers handle copper clad laminate sheets along an automated production line inside an electronic materials manufacturing facility. (AI-generated image)](https://eastasiabrief.com/media/2026-09-18-dd2c26997a1b.webp) *Workers handle copper clad laminate sheets along an automated production line inside an electronic materials manufacturing facility. (AI-generated image)* Doosan approved a 968.4 billion won ($725 million) investment plan on Sept. 17, 2026, to expand manufacturing lines for electronic copper clad laminates across South Korea and China. The capital expenditure represents 7.92% of the parent company's consolidated equity capital of 12.2343 trillion won recorded at the end of 2025. The board resolution authorizes project spending through Dec. 31, 2028. Copper clad laminates form the structural base of printed circuit boards. The core composite material sandwiches insulating dielectric resin between copper foils to transmit high-frequency electrical signals between computing chips, memory packages and networking units. Surging demand for artificial intelligence accelerators has tightened global supplies of specialized substrates. These server clusters require low-loss materials capable of maintaining signal integrity under extreme heat and dense circuit routing without degrading data throughput. Doosan divided the multi-year expenditure between domestic facilities and an overseas expansion project. The industrial group will deploy 421.0 billion won inside South Korea and 547.4 billion won through an operating subsidiary in mainland China. The domestic allocation expands dedicated manufacturing capacity for optical module laminates. The company assigned that capital directly to its Electro-Materials business group to shield core resin formulas and proprietary fabrication techniques from unauthorized technology transfer. Optical transceivers convert electrical signals into optical pulses to route heavy data traffic between server racks. Doosan supplies high-end laminates engineered for 800-gigabit optical modules to tier-one hardware manufacturers across international supply chains. The overseas allocation directs 547.4 billion won to Doosan Electro-Materials (Changshu) Co., Ltd. The wholly owned subsidiary will construct a new manufacturing facility dedicated to producing laminates for AI accelerators and high-speed network switches. Building the plant in Jiangsu Province places capacity near major printed circuit board fabricators. Proximity allows Doosan to shorten delivery cycles, accommodate complex board layout changes rapidly and lower logistics expenses for volume buyers. To support the Changshu project, the board approved an equity injection of 182.4 billion won into the local operating entity. The parent firm will purchase new shares issued by the Chinese subsidiary. The board also authorized a corporate debt guarantee for local commercial bank borrowings up to 370 billion won. That credit commitment equals 3.02% of Doosan's equity capital, applying a foreign exchange conversion of 225 won per Chinese yuan. The debt guarantee runs for five years starting from the date the subsidiary draws down local credit facilities. The combined funding guarantees construction schedules and equipment procurement through local financial channels. Existing domestic manufacturing lines are running above 100% capacity utilization, the company said. Rapid deployment of accelerated computing clusters by cloud service providers has inflated order sizes into multi-trillion-won commitments. Revenue at Doosan Electro-Materials surpassed 1 trillion won for the first time in 2024. Annual sales climbed 86% in 2025 to approximately 1.9 trillion won as artificial intelligence hardware orders widened. Doosan ranks among a narrow cohort of qualified suppliers providing high-end laminates to leading global artificial intelligence chip designers. Strict electrical loss budgets in graphics processor boards leave server designers with very few qualified substrate material sources. High-end computing substrates require ultra-low transmission loss to prevent attenuation as data moves between processing nodes. Resin chemistry and ultra-smooth copper bonding determine whether gigabit-speed signals traverse circuit boards without excessive heat generation. Hyperscale operators are shifting server cluster fabrics toward 800-gigabit and 1.6-terabit interconnect speeds. That transition forces switch builders and transceiver assemblers to discard legacy glass-epoxy materials in favor of specialized polyphenylene ether resins. Doosan has manufactured circuit board laminates for five decades, using proprietary resin formulations to build high-frequency product lines. The current capital program aims to match that chemical portfolio with the volume capacity demanded by hyperscale buyers. Doosan Corporation President Yoo Seung-woo said client purchase orders are scaling rapidly alongside capital spending across artificial intelligence data centers. Preemptive investments will ensure prompt shipments to retain buyer trust and accelerate sustained corporate growth, Yoo said. Construction work and production tool installations will advance in continuous stages over the next three years. Commercial production lines across both the domestic sites and the new Changshu facility will begin operating sequentially during the second half of 2028. The regulatory filing does not state how the 421.0 billion won domestic expenditure will be divided among Doosan's existing manufacturing sites in Jeungpyeong, Gimcheon and Iksan. ## Impact map | Event | Korea | China | Japan | Global impact | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | AI laminate plant expansion | Doosan Electro-Materials commits 421.0 billion won to protect domestic optical module CCL intellectual property | Changshu subsidiary adds 547.4 billion won factory beside downstream PCB fabricators | Resonac and AGC face direct competition in low-loss resin substrate markets | AI server board assemblers secure secondary volume source as accelerator shipments double | ## In this story - **Companies:** Doosan - **Tickers:** 000150.KS - **Exposed:** Nvidia - **Policy:** Economic Security - **Impact:** Capex, Supply Chain, Pricing ## Primary sources 1. datatooza.com 2. doosannewsroom.com 3. zdnet.co.kr 4. 4th.kr 5. thelec.kr --- Cite as: East Asia Brief, "Doosan commits $725 million to expand AI chip laminate lines," September 18, 2026. https://eastasiabrief.com/semiconductors/doosan-commits-725-million-expand-ai-chip-laminate-lines-311