Ajinomoto, the company known for inventing MSG seasoning, has confirmed a roughly 30% increase in prices for Ajinomoto Build-up Film, or ABF, a resin insulation material used in the substrates of nearly all advanced AI chip packages. The increase is being rolled out client by client and comes as analysts expect ABF shortages to persist well into 2027 and possibly longer. Ajinomoto holds more than 95% of the ABF market, while Sekisui Chemical accounts for about 5%, leaving the sector highly concentrated at a time when demand for advanced GPUs, AI accelerators, and high-end ASICs is rising. Palliser Capital, an activist shareholder, had publicly called in March 2026 for a price increase of more than 30%, and Ajinomoto’s May move landed in that range. Forecasts cited in the report point to a supply-demand gap of about 10% in the second half of 2026, widening to 21% in 2027 and 42% by 2028. Ajinomoto has said it will invest more than ¥25 billion, roughly $150 million, to lift production capacity by 50% by 2030, including a new plant in Japan that is expected to come online around 2032. Analysts estimate the latest price increase could raise substrate costs by 3% to 6% across the semiconductor industry, with the effect flowing through foundries and packaging companies to major AI chip buyers such as Microsoft, Google, and Amazon. The episode echoes the ABF shortages of 2020 and 2021, when lead times jumped and prices surged by as much as 40%, and underscores how growing complexity in AI GPU and ASIC designs is driving ABF demand faster than new capacity can be added.