According to Nikkei, Murata Manufacturing is evaluating expanding its MLCC plants and considering moving up its investment plan due to rapidly growing AI server MLCC demand. President Norio Nakajima said in an interview that the company is assessing capacity expansion in regions familiar with Murata's manufacturing methods and hopes to finalize investment details, including the amount, by the end of October. Murata is negotiating with production equipment makers and evaluating acquiring needed plants.
Murata previously announced plans to invest about JPY 80 billion in MLCC production equipment over the two years through fiscal 2027. Nakajima said the company is evaluating how much to accelerate the schedule. The urgency is visible in capacity utilization expectations: the Izumo, Shimane plant was originally expected to reach full capacity in 2030, but may now hit full capacity this year.
AI servers are the direct driver: each needs 15,000 to 25,000 MLCCs, and the global data center buildout is driving orders sharply higher. Murata's Q2 2026 total orders hit JPY 673.9 billion, up 56.3% year-over-year, a quarterly record, with capacitor orders surging 85.5% to JPY 415.5 billion. The quarterly BB ratio was 1.34, the seventh straight quarter above 1 and the highest in at least 24 quarters.
Upstream materials are expanding too. Subsidiary Okamura Murata Manufacturing plans to invest about JPY 9 billion in new lines for ceramic raw materials for MLCCs and other electronic parts. Construction starts October 2026, production in April 2028; added capacity was not disclosed.
Other Japanese and Korean MLCC makers are also accelerating. Samsung Electro-Mechanics plans to expand server MLCC capacity at its Philippines plant; Kyocera announced in July a JPY 100 billion investment over seven years for AI server MLCC capacity; Taiyo Yuden plans to raise its MLCC annual capacity growth rate from 10% to 15%.
ICgoodFind Summary: With 15,000 to 25,000 MLCCs per AI server, Murata's Izumo plant full-capacity timing moved from 2030 to this year, and orders and BB ratio both hit records. The passive component expansion cycle is being compressed by AI infrastructure demand, and upstream ceramic raw material expansion has begun.
