The indefinite closure of 3M Co’s semiconductor coolant plant in Belgium could have major effects on the global semiconductor industry, in which Taiwan has a leading role, analysts said on Sunday.
The 3M plant in Zwijndrecht closed on March 8 due to tightened environmental regulations, a report on Friday in BusinessKorea magazine said.
Coolant prices have been rising since early this year due to high demand, and the Zwijndrecht plant reportedly accounted for 80 percent of global semiconductor coolant output, analysts said.
Photo: Reuters
3M on March 18 sent an official notice to its clients including Samsung Electronics Co, SK Hynix Inc, Intel Corp and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電), the magazine said.
Citing industry sources, the magazine said that 3M’s customers could manage for one to three months with their current coolant inventories, which are essential for semiconductor etching.
Unless the situation is resolved, the global semiconductor manufacturing sector is likely to be significantly affected, the report said.
BusinessKorea said the Belgian government’s regulations were related to the emission of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), known for their nonstick and water-resistant properties and which have long been used in products from fabric protectors to firefighting foam.
PFAS, a controversial class of chemicals that 3M pioneered decades ago, has been linked to significant health risks, including certain types of cancer, according to news reports.
Separately, Spain plans to invest 11 billion euros (US$12.1 billion) to develop microchips and semiconductors as part of a series of strategic projects to overhaul its economy, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said.
“We want our country to be at the vanguard of industrial and technology progress,” Sanchez said yesterday in Madrid, without giving more details.
Sanchez said the project would soon be approved by his Cabinet.
Policymakers across Europe are racing to enact plans to invest in chips and cut reliance on imported technology. The EU aims to become a key semiconductor manufacturer with a goal of producing 20 percent of the world’s chip supply by 2030. The commission also freed up public funding for the production of chips considered “first of a kind” in Europe with its 45 billion euro Chips Act last month.
Germany is looking to grant Intel 5 billion euros in public funds to help finance a 17 billion euro semiconductor plant, people familiar with the matter said last month.
Additional reporting by Bloomberg
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”
TRANSFORMATION: Taiwan is now home to the largest Google hardware research and development center outside of the US, thanks to the nation’s economic policies President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday attended an event marking the opening of Google’s second hardware research and development (R&D) office in Taiwan, which was held at New Taipei City’s Banciao District (板橋). This signals Taiwan’s transformation into the world’s largest Google hardware research and development center outside of the US, validating the nation’s economic policy in the past eight years, she said. The “five plus two” innovative industries policy, “six core strategic industries” initiative and infrastructure projects have grown the national industry and established resilient supply chains that withstood the COVID-19 pandemic, Tsai said. Taiwan has improved investment conditions of the domestic economy
Sales in the retail, and food and beverage sectors last month continued to rise, increasing 0.7 percent and 13.6 percent respectively from a year earlier, setting record highs for the month of March, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Sales in the wholesale sector also grew last month by 4.6 annually, mainly due to the business opportunities for emerging applications related to artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing technologies, the ministry said in a report. The ministry forecast that retail, and food and beverage sales this month would retain their growth momentum as the former would benefit from Tomb Sweeping Day