About 10 kilometers from TSMC’s Kaohsiung fabs, Chemleader Corporation (CLC)’s new plant has just been completed at Kaohsiung Science Park, part of Southern Taiwan Science Park. The facility reflects the company’s strategy of positioning itself close to advanced packaging customers.

“In semiconductors, response times are extremely short. When there is an R&D requirement or an on-site issue, we have to be there immediately,” says Stream Chung (鍾時俊), president of Chemleader. The company specializes in formulated chemicals for advanced packaging, including solutions used to clean residual photoresist after wafer packaging and to etch away excess metal layers—products that have long been dominated by foreign suppliers.

Multiple sources in the semiconductor supply chain confirm that Chemleader’s products have already been adopted in advanced packaging processes at TSMC and ASE. Its parent company, Grand Process Technology (Honsu), reported revenue of NT$6.5 billion in 2025, up nearly 60% year-over-year.

More than a decade ago, Chemleader was primarily a supplier of chemicals for LEDs. As production rapidly shifted offshore, business declined just as quickly. In 2013, Chemleader was merged into Honsu, which had also originated as an equipment maker, and the company pivoted toward semiconductors. Honsu itself had experienced financial difficulties in its early years, relying on continued capital injections from major shareholders to survive. In recent years, it completed a leadership transition and assembled a team with experience spanning TSMC, Applied Materials, and ASE.

This background has become critical in competing with foreign suppliers. Lai Chih-huang (賴志煌), Vice President of the Semiconductor Research Institute at National Tsing Hua University, notes that the strength of international players lies in their understanding of both equipment and chemicals. Now, Honsu and Chemleader are replicating that integrated model.

As demand for advanced packaging has surged, many of the required chemicals are produced in small volumes, are non-standard, and require a high degree of customization. This has created opportunities for fast-moving local suppliers. A senior executive who has worked at both foreign and domestic materials firms points out that in the early stages, volumes are small, so even when the customer is TSMC, multinational suppliers may be unwilling to commit resources.

Chemleader chose to commit fully. Chung recalls that for one new product, the R&D team remained on duty round-the-clock for more than a month. “We would have a review meeting at 4 p.m., and then by 4 p.m. the next day, we would have to deliver new data. Experiments had to be completed within 24 hours,” he says.

After establishing itself in back-end packaging processes, Chemleader began benchmarking against front-end manufacturing standards. To do so, it invested heavily in a new Kaohsiung facility, installing advanced laboratory equipment and cleanrooms.

Two pieces of laboratory equipment alone cost more than NT$10 million. Yeh Chi-chin (葉啟欽), vice president at Chemleader, says bluntly that the semiconductor industry does not wait, and success ultimately depends on whether management is willing to make long-term commitments

From the start of construction, the Kaohsiung plant has been subject to frequent customer audits. Production and inspection data are uploaded in real time, and standard operating procedures have been continuously refined. As a result, Chemleader’s impurity control capabilities have been raised in one fell swoop to the ultra-high standard of one part per billion.

“We are not just a supplier—we are an extension of our customers’ factories,” said Wang Tung-po (王東柏). That positioning has become Chemleader’s protective moat against foreign competitors

At the same time, the company is taking on more technically demanding product lines that remain dominated by overseas suppliers.

Chih Chen (陳智), Distinguished Professor at the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, transferred the technology for the “nanotwinned copper electroplating chemicals” used in advanced packaging to Chemleader several years ago. Such copper electroplating solutions, he notes, are still controlled by foreign suppliers and “can cost nearly NT$10,000 per liter”.

By committing capital and pushing hard on R&D, Chemleader has moved from a sunset industry into a critical position within Taiwan’s semiconductor supply chain.

Have you read?

• From Shoe Insoles to Semiconductor Consumables: How Praise Victory Industrial Multiplied the Value of Polyurethane
• Merck and ASML Deepen Taiwan Presence as EUV Materials and Core Technologies Go Local
• TRUMPF Accelerates Expansion in Taiwan but Face Talent Shortage Challenge

Edited by Jack Chou
Uploaded by Ian Huang