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Project(s): View 4 related projects in PECWeb
Plant(s): View 3 related plants in PECWeb
Released July 22, 2024 | SUGAR LAND
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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Two subsidiaries of Taiwan-based GlobalWafers Company Limited (Hsinchu) recently signed a non-binding preliminary memorandum of terms with the U.S. Department of Commerce for up to $400 million in direct funding under the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 to support construction of silicon wafer-manufacturing plants in Texas and Missouri, respectively.
Silicon wafers have high durability, reliability and heat resistance, which makes them a foundation for housing semiconductor chips.
"With the support of the Biden administration, we are honored to be bringing to American shores the world's most cutting-edge 300 [millimeter] mm semiconductor wafer technology, filling what the White House has called a 'key vulnerability' within the U.S. semiconductor supply chain," Mark England, president of GlobalWafers America (GWA), said in a press release. "GlobalWafers is fully committed to the U.S. market, and we are excited to be playing a defining role in the nation's semiconductor rebirth."
A related press release from the Department of Commerce notes GlobalWafers currently holds more than 80% of the global 300-mm silicon wafer manufacturing market, and approximately 90% of silicon wafers are sourced from East Asia today.
GWA is the owner of GlobalWafers' grassroot semiconductor silicon wafer manufacturing plant in Sherman, Texas, which began construction in late 2022 and is expected to be operational in 2026. Construction on the $1 billion project entails an approximately 1.3 million-square-foot manufacturing facility with an initial production capacity of 350,000 wafers per month. The project is the first phase of a potential $5 billion, four-phase, 3.2 million-square-foot development that could stretch the work into 2028 before final completion of the project.
Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Industrial Manufacturing Project Database can click here to read the project report.
Another GlobalWafers subsidiary, MEMC LLC (Saint Peters, Missouri), is the owner of a 744,000-square-foot silicon wafer manufacturing plant in Saint Peters, where MEMC is developing a proposed $200 million expansion. The project entails adding a building to produce advanced 300-mm silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafers, which would be the only source of those wafers in the U.S. Subscribers can click here to read more information on the project.
According to the GlobalWafers website, SOI "is a new type of starting material for the chipmaking process," that "enables increased chip functionality without the cost of major fab process equipment changes." The wafers have three layers: a thin surface layer of silicon where the transistors are formed; an underlying layer of insulating material; and an insulating layer, usually made of silicon dioxide, referred to as "buried oxide" or "BOX."
In the U.S. Department of Commerce's own press release announcing the funding for the two projects, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said, "President Biden is restoring our leadership in the entire semiconductor supply chain -- from materials to manufacturing, to R&D."
GlobalWafers also said it plans to apply for the U.S. Treasury Department's Advanced Manufacturing Investment Credit (AMIC) of up to 25% of qualified expenditures at the GWA and MEMC LLC facilities.
For more information on the CHIPS and Science Act and other semiconductor-related projects in the U.S., see December 13, 2023, article - Biden Administration Allocates First CHIPS Act Semiconductor Project Funding.
Industrial Info is tracking billions' worth of active and planned projects receiving CHIPS and Science Act funding. Subscribers to the GMI Database can click here for a full list of projects.
The projects include the ongoing construction of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited's (TSMC) (NYSE:TSM) (Hsinchu, Tawain) two semiconductor fabs in Phoenix. The first phase is for a 2.3 million-square-foot fab building to ultimately produce about 600,000 wafers per year and 4-nanometer semiconductors for iPhones and MacBooks, while the second phase will add a 2.8 million-square-foot fab to manufacture 2-nanometer and 3-nanometer semiconductors. Operations at the first facility are expected to begin in the first half of 2025, and the second facility in 2028.
Subscribers can learn more by viewing the project reports on Phase I and Phase II.
In April, the U.S. Department of Commerce entered a nonbinding preliminary agreement with TSMC for a CHIPS and Science Act award package with $6.6 billion in grants and up to $5 billion in loans.
On TSMC's most recent earnings call July 18, Chief Executive Officer C.C. Wei told investors and analysts the work in Arizona is ongoing and said the company would not entertain the idea of a joint venture ownership with the U.S. for its Arizona facilities. This came as earlier the same week, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump told Bloomberg Businessweek that TSMC took "about 100% of our chip business. I think, Taiwan should pay us for defense."
Subscribers to Industrial Info's GMI Project and Plant databases can click here for a full list of detailed reports for projects mentioned in this article, and click here for a full list of related plant profiles.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) platform helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking more than 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 trillion (USD).
Silicon wafers have high durability, reliability and heat resistance, which makes them a foundation for housing semiconductor chips.
"With the support of the Biden administration, we are honored to be bringing to American shores the world's most cutting-edge 300 [millimeter] mm semiconductor wafer technology, filling what the White House has called a 'key vulnerability' within the U.S. semiconductor supply chain," Mark England, president of GlobalWafers America (GWA), said in a press release. "GlobalWafers is fully committed to the U.S. market, and we are excited to be playing a defining role in the nation's semiconductor rebirth."
A related press release from the Department of Commerce notes GlobalWafers currently holds more than 80% of the global 300-mm silicon wafer manufacturing market, and approximately 90% of silicon wafers are sourced from East Asia today.
GWA is the owner of GlobalWafers' grassroot semiconductor silicon wafer manufacturing plant in Sherman, Texas, which began construction in late 2022 and is expected to be operational in 2026. Construction on the $1 billion project entails an approximately 1.3 million-square-foot manufacturing facility with an initial production capacity of 350,000 wafers per month. The project is the first phase of a potential $5 billion, four-phase, 3.2 million-square-foot development that could stretch the work into 2028 before final completion of the project.
Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Industrial Manufacturing Project Database can click here to read the project report.
Another GlobalWafers subsidiary, MEMC LLC (Saint Peters, Missouri), is the owner of a 744,000-square-foot silicon wafer manufacturing plant in Saint Peters, where MEMC is developing a proposed $200 million expansion. The project entails adding a building to produce advanced 300-mm silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafers, which would be the only source of those wafers in the U.S. Subscribers can click here to read more information on the project.
According to the GlobalWafers website, SOI "is a new type of starting material for the chipmaking process," that "enables increased chip functionality without the cost of major fab process equipment changes." The wafers have three layers: a thin surface layer of silicon where the transistors are formed; an underlying layer of insulating material; and an insulating layer, usually made of silicon dioxide, referred to as "buried oxide" or "BOX."
In the U.S. Department of Commerce's own press release announcing the funding for the two projects, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said, "President Biden is restoring our leadership in the entire semiconductor supply chain -- from materials to manufacturing, to R&D."
GlobalWafers also said it plans to apply for the U.S. Treasury Department's Advanced Manufacturing Investment Credit (AMIC) of up to 25% of qualified expenditures at the GWA and MEMC LLC facilities.
For more information on the CHIPS and Science Act and other semiconductor-related projects in the U.S., see December 13, 2023, article - Biden Administration Allocates First CHIPS Act Semiconductor Project Funding.
Industrial Info is tracking billions' worth of active and planned projects receiving CHIPS and Science Act funding. Subscribers to the GMI Database can click here for a full list of projects.
The projects include the ongoing construction of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited's (TSMC) (NYSE:TSM) (Hsinchu, Tawain) two semiconductor fabs in Phoenix. The first phase is for a 2.3 million-square-foot fab building to ultimately produce about 600,000 wafers per year and 4-nanometer semiconductors for iPhones and MacBooks, while the second phase will add a 2.8 million-square-foot fab to manufacture 2-nanometer and 3-nanometer semiconductors. Operations at the first facility are expected to begin in the first half of 2025, and the second facility in 2028.
Subscribers can learn more by viewing the project reports on Phase I and Phase II.
In April, the U.S. Department of Commerce entered a nonbinding preliminary agreement with TSMC for a CHIPS and Science Act award package with $6.6 billion in grants and up to $5 billion in loans.
On TSMC's most recent earnings call July 18, Chief Executive Officer C.C. Wei told investors and analysts the work in Arizona is ongoing and said the company would not entertain the idea of a joint venture ownership with the U.S. for its Arizona facilities. This came as earlier the same week, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump told Bloomberg Businessweek that TSMC took "about 100% of our chip business. I think, Taiwan should pay us for defense."
Subscribers to Industrial Info's GMI Project and Plant databases can click here for a full list of detailed reports for projects mentioned in this article, and click here for a full list of related plant profiles.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) platform helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking more than 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 trillion (USD).
