Fujifilm Electronic Materials Taiwan Co (台灣富士電子材料) plans to invest NT$3.4 billion (US$110.4 million) in Taiwan to expand its chemical materials capacity used in advanced semiconductor technologies, it said yesterday.
The expansion is to meet growing demand for its chemicals, which are used in next-generation 2-nanometer technology, it said.
The three-year investment would double its local capacity for producing chemical-mechanical polishing (CMP) slurry, primarily by building a new factory in Hsinchu County’s Hukou Township (湖口) and expanding production in a plant at the Southern Taiwan Science Park (南部科學園區) in Tainan, the company said.
Photo: AFP
Fujifilm said it expects the new Hsinchu factory to start operations in early 2026 to produce CMP slurry and other semiconductor chemicals used in the manufacturing of 2-nanometer chips. The Tainan site produces semiconductor materials used in advanced technologies such as 3-nanometer chips.
The new lines in Tainan would start production in the first half of next year, it said.
The company operates three manufacturing facilities in Taiwan — two in Hsinchu County and one in Tainan.
Taiwan is one of the company’s major CMP manufacturing sites, in addition to those in Japan, South Korea and the US.
With a variety of special chemicals and materials on offer, Fujifilm Electronic Materials Taiwan has a long customer list, including Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), United Microelectronics Corp (聯電) and ASE Technology Holding Co (日月光投控).
TSMC said it is to start volume production of 2-nanometer chips by 2025 at its Hsinchu or Taichung fabs.
TSMC also said its 2-nanometer technology would be the most advanced when it becomes available in 2025.
“In order to further the growth of the company in the future, today we’d like to present our future biz plan for all of you. I believe we will continue to work with Taiwan’s [semiconductor] industry, Taiwan’s community and Taiwan people for further growth,” Fujifilm Electronic Materials Taiwan chairman Kenichi Tanaka told a news conference in Taipei.
The company’s latest investment is part of a broader growth target set by its parent company, Fujifilm Electronic Materials Co. The Japanese company aims to nearly triple its revenue from ￥180 billion (US$1.34 billion) to ￥500 billion by the 2030 fiscal year.
The company expects the new investment to create 50 to 60 new jobs including in research and development.
That would bring the company’s overall headcount to about 300 people, it said.
Fujifilm Electronic Materials Taiwan also makes CMP cleaner, photoresist, polyimides and other chemicals used in the semiconductor manufacturing process.
Its customers are digesting excessive inventory at a slower pace than it expected, but it is optimistic about the semiconductor industry’s long-term growth, driven by 5G, Internet of Things and other devices, the company said.
As it takes three to five years to develop next-generation products, it has to invest ahead, it said.
GREAT SUCCESS: Republican Senator Todd Young expressed surprise at Trump’s comments and said he expects the administration to keep the program running US lawmakers who helped secure billions of dollars in subsidies for domestic semiconductor manufacturing rejected US President Donald Trump’s call to revoke the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act, signaling that any repeal effort in the US Congress would fall short. US Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who negotiated the law, on Wednesday said that Trump’s demand would fail, while a top Republican proponent, US Senator Todd Young, expressed surprise at the president’s comments and said he expects the administration to keep the program running. The CHIPS Act is “essential for America leading the world in tech, leading the world in AI [artificial
DOMESTIC SUPPLY: The probe comes as Donald Trump has called for the repeal of the US$52.7 billion CHIPS and Science Act, which the US Congress passed in 2022 The Office of the US Trade Representative is to hold a hearing tomorrow into older Chinese-made “legacy” semiconductors that could heap more US tariffs on chips from China that power everyday goods from cars to washing machines to telecoms equipment. The probe, which began during former US president Joe Biden’s tenure in December last year, aims to protect US and other semiconductor producers from China’s massive state-driven buildup of domestic chip supply. A 50 percent US tariff on Chinese semiconductors began on Jan. 1. Legacy chips use older manufacturing processes introduced more than a decade ago and are often far simpler than
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday said that its research institute has launched its first advanced artificial intelligence (AI) large language model (LLM) using traditional Chinese, with technology assistance from Nvidia Corp. Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), said the LLM, FoxBrain, is expected to improve its data analysis capabilities for smart manufacturing, and electric vehicle and smart city development. An LLM is a type of AI trained on vast amounts of text data and uses deep learning techniques, particularly neural networks, to process and generate language. They are essential for building and improving AI-powered servers. Nvidia provided assistance
Gasoline and diesel prices this week are to decrease NT$0.5 and NT$1 per liter respectively as international crude prices continued to fall last week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) said yesterday. Effective today, gasoline prices at CPC and Formosa stations are to decrease to NT$29.2, NT$30.7 and NT$32.7 per liter for 92, 95 and 98-octane unleaded gasoline respectively, while premium diesel is to cost NT$27.9 per liter at CPC stations and NT$27.7 at Formosa pumps, the companies said in separate statements. Global crude oil prices dropped last week after the eight OPEC+ members said they would
RSS