作者：望月崇堺化学工业株式会社在制作艺伎用面部彩妆精细粉末方面拥有百年专业经验，如今这一专长正找到一项有利可图的新用途——为人工智能热潮提供动力。
Chemical Industry Co.’s century-old expertise in producing fine powders for face makeup used by geisha is finding a lucrative new use — powering the artificial intelligence boom.
这家总部位于大阪的公司产能正迅速趋于饱和，其为AI数据中心所需的电容器提供原材料。直到不久前，这类生产业务对堺化学而言还只是副业。该公司数十年来一直在完善超细且均匀颗粒的生产工艺，无论是用于传统日本粉底的无铅安全基材，还是用于服务器微小元件内部储存大量电荷的化合物。
Production capacity is quickly filling up at the Osaka-based company, which provides raw materials for capacitors necessary in AI data centers. Until recently, such production was a side business for Sakai Chemical, which has spent decades perfecting the production of ultra-fine and uniform particles — whether for safe, lead-free base material for traditional Japanese face powders, or for chemical compounds that store big electrical charges inside tiny components in servers.
过去一年，堺化学已转变为一个鲜为人知的科技供应链关键节点。据其社长矢仓俊幸透露，公司目前正在计算需要增加多少生产能力。
The last year has transformed Sakai Chemical into a little-known tech supply chain linchpin. The company’s now calculating how much more production capability it needs to add, according to its President Toshiyuki Yagura.
据矢仓表示，制造产能可能会实现两位数增长。他称，包括客户村田制作所和太阳诱电在内的先进多层陶瓷电容器（MLCC）制造商，在每次会议中都会上调订单预测。他补充道，公司将在三月前就资本支出做出决定。
A double-digit increase in manufacturing capacity is likely, according to Yagura. Advanced multilayer ceramic capacitor (MLCC) makers — such as clients Murata Manufacturing Co. and Taiyo Yuden Co. — raise their order forecasts at every meeting, he said. Sakai Chemical will make a decision regarding capex by March, he added.
“我没想到需求会增长得这么快，而这完全是因为AI，”矢仓在接受采访时说道。他还提到，外界常带着些许遗憾地开玩笑，说堺化学或许会在MLCC制造商的工厂旁边建设设施。尽管AI引领的增长势头略有放缓，但他表示，这波热潮至少会持续到2027年。
“I didn’t think demand would grow this fast, and that’s all because of AI,” Yagura said in an interview, adding that he fields wistful jokes about the possibility of Sakai Chemical building facilities next to MLCC makers’ factories. The pace of AI-led momentum has eased somewhat, but he said the boom will likely last through 2027 at least.
上个季度，尽管受日本建筑材料需求疲软及防晒市场趋势变化影响，公司整体营业利润下降了10%，但堺化学的电子材料部门利润却增长了22%。电子材料现已成为公司最大的利润来源，超越了其传统的主力业务——塑料添加剂。该公司股价今年已上涨约15%。
Last quarter, Sakai Chemical’s electronics materials segment profit rose 22%, even as company-wide operating profit fell 10%, hurt by weak demand for building materials in Japan and changing trends in the sunscreen market. Electronics materials are now the company’s largest profit generator, surpassing its mainstay plastic additives business. The company’s stock price is up about 15% this year.
这家拥有108年历史的公司，最初提供高纯度氧化锌，作为传统上用于艺伎和歌舞伎演员标志性妆容的铅白的更安全替代品。传统化妆能呈现光滑、明亮且持久的白色效果，却曾导致日本演艺人员出现慢性铅中毒。堺化学提供的这种安全材料能带来洁白、不透明的遮盖效果，而且易于在皮肤上推开。从化妆品领域起步后，堺化学很快将业务拓展到防晒霜、汽车轮胎、塑料和钡化合物等各种产品所用材料。
The 108-year-old company started out by supplying high-purity zinc oxide as a safe alternative to the white lead historically used in the iconic makeup of geisha and kabuki entertainers. The older form of makeup provided a smooth, brilliant and long-lasting white finish, but caused chronic lead poisoning in Japan’s artist class. Sakai Chemical offered a safe material that offered white, opaque coverage that spread easily over the skin. From makeup, Sakai Chemical soon expanded into materials used in products ranging from sunscreens and car tires to plastics and barium compounds.
人工智能支出热潮使公司的钛酸钡技术备受关注。钛酸钡是制造多层陶瓷电容器（MLCC）所需的关键化合物，而MLCC是调节电子设备中电流的微小元件。人工智能服务器使用的高端电容器需要由超细、粒径均匀且高纯度的钛酸钡颗粒制成。
The AI spending rush has put a spotlight on the company’s expertise in barium titanate, a critical chemical compound needed to make MLCCs — tiny components that regulate power flow in electronics. High-end capacitors used in AI servers need to be made from ultra-fine, uniform and high-purity barium titanate particles.
数十年来，堺化学一直供应这种材料，但直到去年年底，随着人工智能基础设施热潮推动需求增长，部分产品的年度订单量才开始翻倍，销售额也迅速攀升。
Sakai Chemical has been supplying the material for decades, but sales only began surging late last year, when annual orders for some products doubled as the AI infrastructure boom fueled demand.
据矢仓称，多层陶瓷电容器制造商也会通过混合、煅烧和研磨钡化合物与钛化合物来制备这种原料，但人工智能服务器用电容器所需的材料则由堺化学提供。为制取超纯粉末，堺化学让这些化合物在液体溶液中于高温高压下反应。这一工艺难度很高，需要精确控制多个变量。
While MLCC manufacturers also make the ingredient by mixing, firing and grinding barium and titanium compounds, they turn to Sakai Chemical for the materials needed to make capacitors for AI servers, according to Yagura. To make its ultra-pure powder, Sakai Chemical makes the compounds react in a liquid solution while exposing them to high temperature and pressure — a difficult process that requires precise control of multiple variables.
尽管需求旺盛且产能不足，据矢仓称，除弥补原材料投入成本上涨外，公司不打算将多层陶瓷电容器颗粒价格提高到更高水平。他也承认，这种克制提价的态度会对公司价值造成不利影响。“我们保持谦逊，但为能够把事情做好而感到自豪。”矢仓说。
Despite high demand and insufficient capacity, the company has no plans to raise prices of its MLCC particles beyond what’s required to cover higher input costs, according to Yagura. That’s even as he acknowledges such reluctance weighs on corporate value. “We are modest but proud of doing things right,” Yagura said.
中国制造商正在芯片、半导体材料和MLCC领域投入巨资，试图迎头赶上。Yagura表示，尽管中国公司在电子材料领域的市场影响力日益增强，但日本制造商在产品一致性方面仍占据优势。
Chinese manufacturers are spending heavily to catch up in chips, semiconductor materials and MLCCs. While Chinese companies’ market presence is growing in electronic materials, Japanese manufacturers retain an edge in consistency, Yagura said.
“中国厂商也许能够拿出实验室里的最佳样品，但持续交付质量可靠的产品正是日本企业所擅长的。”他说道。
“Chinese makers may be able to show off their best samples out of their labs, but consistently delivering products of reliable quality is something Japan excels at,” he said.