Hitachi Cable makes copper and copper alloy products at its Tsuchiura Works. Starting in October 2006, we will increase the production capacity for high-strength copper alloy strips used for electronics products such as semiconductor lead frames and connectors.

In the copper strip business segment, we focus on dual-gauge strips, rolled copper foils, and copper alloy strips. The copper alloy strips are classified into ''high-conductivity'' and ''high-strength'' types. The high-conductivity types include HCL-12S (pure copper with a trace amount of tin added), HCL-02Z (with a trace amount of zirconium added) and C151. These strips are mainly used for discrete semiconductor lead frames. High-strength types include the C194 series (with iron added), Corson *1 copper alloy HCL-305 (with nickel and silicon added), HCL-64T (with chromium and tin added). These strips are mainly used for products such as IC lead frames and mini-transistor lead frames, for which there is demand for a further reduction in thickness, increase in the number of pins, and miniaturization (see [Hitachi Cable's lineup of copper alloy strips] below).

Semiconductor devices have become increasingly thinner and smaller in recent years. In line with this trend, there is demand for further increases in strength and quality and reduction in the thickness of lead frame materials for semiconductor packages, with such demand expected to expand the market for high-strength copper alloy strips. To cope with this growth, we have decided to invest about 2.5 billion yen in total in the copper strip production facilities at our Tsuchiura Works. We are mainly planning to upgrade the heat treatment equipment for high-strength copper alloy strips, through such measures as replacing the continuous annealing furnaces and adding bell-type annealing furnaces. Through this upgrade, the production capacity for copper alloy strips is expected to increase by about 30%, from 1,200 to 1,600 tons monthly *2.Using technological expertise accumulated in the development and manufacture of copper alloy strips for lead frames, we have developed new alloy strips *3 and have already started their production, albeit not on a full scale, in anticipation of a further growth in demand for use in connectors.To cope with growing demand for the high-strength alloy strips mentioned above, we will enhance our production capacity. We are additionally working on enriching our product lineup to meet customer needs through the development of new alloy strips.

We exhibited our newly developed alloy strips and other materials at the ''Printed Wiring Boards EXPO'' (coinciding with INTERNEPCON Japan), held from January 18 (Wed) to 20 (Fri) at Tokyo Big Sight.

*1	Corson is the name of a precipitation-hardened copper alloy that contains nickel (Ni) and silicon (Si) as its main components.
*2	The production capacity for copper strips in total increased from 4,600 to 5,000 tons monthly.
*3	The newly developed alloy strips are: HCL-305-H Corson copper alloy HCL-307-H New Corson alloy HCL-404 New alloy containing nickel (Ni) and iron (Fe)

Overview of Tsuchiura Works

Address:	3550 Kidamari-cho, Tsuchiura-shi, Ibaraki Prefecture
General Manager:	Shigeru Yumino
Number of employees:	621 (as of March 2005)
Total area:	552,000 m2
Area of building:	134,000 m2
Main production items:	Copper strips, copper tubes, copper & copper alloy products for electric purposes, etc.

Reference: Hitachi Cable's lineup of copper alloy strips

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