# MK Electron expands Kunshan plated wire capacity by 50% into 2027 *The South Korean materials maker is lifting output at its Chinese plant to meet confirmed orders from local assembly houses as packaging investment accelerates.* **Published:** October 2, 2026 **By:** Ji-woo Han **Section:** Semiconductors & AI Hardware — South Korea **Format:** Breaking **Confidence:** medium **Source:** https://eastasiabrief.com/semiconductors/mk-electron-expands-kunshan-plated-wire-capacity-50-2027-474 **Publisher:** East Asia Brief (https://eastasiabrief.com/) --- ## What to know - MK Electron adds 50% plated wire capacity at Kunshan plant by H1 2027 - Kunshan subsidiary Q2 revenue rose 15% on confirmed OSAT orders - Phased equipment installation runs through June 2027 without published capex ![A technician operates machinery on a bonding wire production line inside a cleanroom manufacturing plant. (AI-generated image)](https://eastasiabrief.com/media/2026-10-02-994167818211.webp) *A technician operates machinery on a bonding wire production line inside a cleanroom manufacturing plant. (AI-generated image)* MK Electron said Oct. 2 it had begun expanding production capacity for plated bonding wire at its Kunshan plant in China, planning a 50% increase by the first half of 2027. The South Korean supplier is pacing the installation in phases across the next three quarters. The company said the additional lines will fulfill locked-in purchase commitments from local semiconductor assembly customers rather than speculative demand. Bonding wire accounts for roughly 93% of MK Electron's total packaging materials sales. The company's Kunshan subsidiary posted a 15% quarter-on-quarter revenue increase in the second quarter of 2026 as local factory utilization recovered. Plated wire uses a thin precious metal layer, such as palladium or gold, over a copper or silver core. The coating shields the underlying metal from surface oxidation and stabilizes ball formation during high-speed thermal sonic bonding. The company clarified that the current Kunshan project focuses entirely on plated metallic wire. The expansion does not involve legacy insulated-coating wire technologies, which the firm licensed nearly two decades ago for older multi-die stacking configurations. Demand for plated wire has climbed as Chinese chipmakers deploy dense leadframe and substrate packaging for automotive microcontrollers, power management circuits and memory modules. China currently consumes about 40% of the world's bonding wire volume. High gold prices have accelerated the migration away from pure gold wire toward plated copper and alloy alternatives. Plated copper wire delivers comparable electrical conductivity at roughly one-third of the raw metal procurement expense. Chinese packaging houses are expanding assembly lines to absorb rising domestic wafer output. TrendForce tracked 10 major packaging projects announced across China between May and July 2026, representing 40 billion yuan ($5.6 billion) in committed capital expenditure. MK Electron established its Kunshan manufacturing base in 2018 after operating a commercial sales office in Shanghai since 2008. The Kunshan plant supplies outsourced semiconductor assembly and test providers clustered around Jiangsu province and Shanghai. Advanced multi-die packaging requires finer wire diameters and tighter spacing between adjacent interconnects. As wire diameter narrows below 18 micrometers, the wire becomes more vulnerable to sweeping and bending during epoxy mold compound injection. A bent wire can contact an adjacent lead and cause an electrical short circuit. Plated wires provide higher mechanical rigidity than soft gold, keeping the wire span straight across longer loop distances inside crowded packages. The Yongin-based materials firm ranks as the world's largest producer of semiconductor bonding wire by volume. It operates parallel production facilities in South Korea and China to serve integrated device manufacturers and independent contract assemblers. Expanding production directly in Jiangsu allows the company to bypass cross-border logistics frictions and clear customs inspections locally. Chinese chip packaging lines increasingly require localized feedstock deliveries within 24 hours of purchase orders. MK Electron has not disclosed the total capital expenditure allocated for the Kunshan equipment purchase. The company also declined to publish the baseline metric tonnage or total kilometer length of its current plated wire output. The supplier did not file a formal regulatory disclosure with the Korea Exchange because the capital commitment remained below mandatory reporting thresholds. The investment was announced through corporate communications rather than a statutory filing. Equipment delivery and facility preparation at the Kunshan site will continue through the winter. The phased machinery installations are scheduled to finish before the end of June 2027, when the full 50% capacity expansion enters commercial mass production. ## Impact map | Event | Korea | China | Japan | Global impact | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Kunshan plated wire expansion | MK Electron scales overseas plant to serve non-domestic assembly demand | Local OSAT plants secure 50% more localized plated bonding wire supply | Tanaka Precious Metals faces price competition in plated packaging wire | Back-end assembly supply chains absorb lower-cost plated copper wire | ## In this story - **Companies:** MK Electron - **Tickers:** 033160.KQ - **Policy:** Economic Security - **Impact:** Capex, Supply Chain, Order Book ## Primary sources 1. edaily.co.kr 2. daum.net 3. etnews.com --- Cite as: East Asia Brief, "MK Electron expands Kunshan plated wire capacity by 50% into 2027," October 2, 2026. https://eastasiabrief.com/semiconductors/mk-electron-expands-kunshan-plated-wire-capacity-50-2027-474