TSMC to build 2 advanced IC packaging plants in Chiayi

03/18/2024

Taipei, March 18 (CNA) Vice Premier Cheng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦) announced on Monday that contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) will build two advanced IC packaging plants in Chiayi County, southern Taiwan.

Cheng made the announcement during a trip to Chiayi accompanied by TSMC Vice President for operations and facility Arthur Chuang (莊子壽), and other ranking government officials including Economics Minister Wang Mei-hua (王美花), adding that the first IC packaging plant using the sophisticated Chip on Wafer on Substrate (CoWoS) technology in Chiayi is scheduled to break ground in May.

Construction of the first Chiayi plant is expected to be completed by the end of 2026 with mass production scheduled to begin in 2028 and expected to create about 3,000 jobs, Cheng said.

In response to Cheng’s announcement, TSMC confirmed the investment in a statement and said that demand for sophisticated IC packaging services for chips related to artificial intelligence applications is strong and the Chiayi investments seek to meet growing market demand.

The chipmaker, which has entered the IC packaging business in a bid to provide one-stop shopping services to its clients, has said it will continue to expand capacity in CoWoS technology to cater to its demanding clients.

The chipmaker also expects its CoWoS capacity to more than double by the end of this year.

TSMC’s investments in the Chiayi section of the Southern Taiwan Science Park (STSP) show the chipmaker’s determination to keep developing high-end technologies in Taiwan at a time when the company has started to build wafer fabs overseas, Cheng said.

Cheng expressed gratitude to TSMC for the investments, saying the chipmaker’s project in Chiayi is expected to allow Taiwan to continue to play an indispensable role in the global semiconductor supply chain.

TSMC is expected to lead other Taiwanese tech companies in the upstream, midstream and downstream segments, including IC designers and AI application developers to invest more in Taiwan, paving the way for Taiwan’s industries to move ahead, he said.

According to Cheng, since the CoWoS plant investments in Chiayi were initiated by TSMC CEO C.C. Wei (魏哲家) last year, the chipmaker and related government agencies have worked closely to boost efficiency in the project across a wide range of areas, such as changes in land use purpose, environmental assessments, evaluations in water and electricity consumption, waste water treatment and even the establishment of an experimental high school for children of TSMC employees.

TSMC and the central and local governments have faith in the investment project and will soon start preparatory work to break ground on the new plant, Cheng said.

However, neither Cheng nor TSMC disclosed any financial details about the project.

Echoing Cheng, Su Chen-kang (蘇振綱), director general of the Southern Taiwan Science Park, said TSMC and the science park bureau signed an agreement earlier this month for the rental of a 12 hectare plot of land, adding the bureau will do everything it can to provide the chipmaker with necessary assistance for its CoWoS investments in Chiayi.

Chiayi County Magistrate Weng Chang-liang (翁章梁) said the county is well prepared to house TSMC’s new plants and believes the project will help Chiayi move toward the development of high value industries by attracting more investment from firms in the supply chain.

Earlier Monday, Reuters reported TSMC is considering building CoWoS technology capacity in Japan, where the chipmaker has opened a wafer fab and is building another in Kumamoto.

Elsewhere, TSMC is building two advanced wafer fabs in the U.S. state of Arizona, while the company is scheduled to start construction of another wafer fab in Dresden, Germany in the second half of this year.

Source:TSMC to build 2 advanced IC packaging plants in Chiayi – Focus Taiwan