Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday denied a report that there has been a delay in its Arizona investment project, saying the plan is on schedule.
Construction of a planned 12-inch wafer foundry in Arizona started in June and equipment installation is to start in the second half of next year, TSMC said.
In the fab’s initial phase, it is to produce 20,000 wafers a month starting in the first quarter of 2024, the company said.
TSMC announced the Arizona project in May last year, saying it would invest US$12 billion to build the fab, which would deploy 5-nanometer process technology, at a time when then-US president Donald Trump was urging manufacturers in the global technology supply chain to move from China to the US.
TSMC was responding to a report in the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the sister newspaper of the Taipei Times) that said it faced a delay in the fab’s construction after rival Intel Corp, which is building a fab in the same state, lured workers with higher pay amid a labor shortage caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Due to Intel’s aggressive recruiting of construction workers, TSMC’s contractors had to seek workers from other states, leading to a two-month delay, the report said.
Earlier, TSMC on Thursday announced that subsidiary TSMC Arizona Corp plans to issue US$4.5 billion in unsecured senior bonds and would use the proceeds as its working capital.
The transaction is scheduled to be completed on Monday next week, the company said.
The chipmaker said it has priced the corporate bonds, and they would comprise four tranches with four different maturities.
A US$1.25 billion tranche of 1.75 percent bonds that mature on Oct. 25, 2026, is to be issued at 99.976 percent face value, TSMC said.
A US$1.25 billion tranche of 2.50 percent bonds that mature on Oct. 25, 2031, is to be issued at 99.561 percent face value, the company said.
A US$1 billion tranche of 3.125 percent bonds that mature on Oct. 25, 2041, is to be issued at 98.898 percent face value, it said.
A US$1 billion tranche of 3.25 percent bonds that mature on Oct. 25, 2051, is to be issued at 98.658 percent face value, it added.
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