Semiconductor Construction News roundup October 2024

Significant increase in Chips funding allocation in October.

Richard Casey

Introduction

October appears to be a month of big announcements in the US, is there something happening in November? Multiple announcements of funding rounds and new semiconductor projects all across the US, we will be tracking them closely and seeing how they develop. Europe on the other had has been hit with another key project being shelved citing lack of funding and market slowdowns causing the impact. In Asia, forward momentum continues with more than 30 semiconductor-related projects, in China, having entered the stages of signing contracts, construction, topping-out, and production and announcements of new builds by TSMC and Renases and Vietnam sets up to build six fabs in a three stage plan.

Intel continues to have issues with securing release of chips funding but has passed the Q3 earning review by not having any additional impacts leading to an increase in its share price. This could be a positive indicator that it is moving forward. Lets see how its US plans progress.

Some key Milestones for our industry supply chain

Lets not pass this month without saying Happy Birthday to Micron. Micron celebrated it's 46th birthday this month. Starting in a small basement office in Boise, Idaho, with just a team of four, Micron Technology has grown to become a key player in the world’s most significant technological advancements.

Not to be outdone, Carten Controls, a global supplier of high performance flow systems, has also just celebrated a birthday with 40 years in the semiconductor industry. Brendan Grogan originally set up Carten Ireland in late 1981, working with the National Manpower Service and Dan Carten – who founded Carten Controls in Connecticut USA in 1970 – to set up the Irish branch of Carten Controls. read their story here.

Latest project announcements

In Europe, the excitement of the Wolfspeed announcement in 2022 has been deflated with the recent news that their plans for Saarland in Germany has been shelved. This come on the heels of the Intel Magdeburg announcement last month, both announcements leaving a big hole in Europe's and Germanys Semicon plans. On a positive note SiliconBox have received the green light for investment in their new facility in Italy & IMEC has been announced as one of the EU pilot lines to receive aid from the EU chips act. with hints from the EU that similar lines could be set up in Germany and the Netherlands. Finally, TSMC executives have indicated that there may be more facilities coming to Europe, lets see where this goes.

It has been a busy month for announcements in the USA. Wolfspeed Announces $1.5B in Proposed Funding from two sources for its US facilities. Infinera has announced preliminary terms for funding to expand its facilities in California and Pennsylvania. Onsemi has received certification as a trusted provider to the Department of Defense, opening the door for additional sources of funding. Arizona is in the new again with Quantum Computing Inc, announcing that they are in the final phase of building out their quantum photonic chip foundry located in Tempe. The state of Michigan makes the news with the indication that Western digital may be locating in Genesee County and the allocation of Chip Funding to Hemlock Semiconductors to expand its production capacity. In Texas a similar, under the radar project, has been announced under the mysterious name of Project Factory 1, we will be watching this closely. In Mexico, Foxconn are to build their largest assembly site to support NVIDIA's GB200 superchip assemblies. New York Creates Albany Nanotech facility has been announced as the first Chips for America RND Facility with a grant of $825M while Sunnyvale, CA, has been identified as the second region but no exact location announced yet. Finally, Skywater Technologies has received DOD funding for their expansion in Florida.

In Asia, TSMC has announced its is to build an additional two fabs in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, Renases, with CG Power and Industrial Solutions Limited and Stars Microelectronics are to jointly build an Semiconductor Assembly and Test Facility in India. In a surprise move, it appears that Intel may be investing in the expansion of its A&T plant in Chengdu, China. Finally, Vanguard International Semiconductor Corp (VIS) and Episil Technologies Inc. announced a strategic partnership to build an 8-inch silicon carbide (SiC) wafer fabrication facility in Taiwan.

Semiconductor Construction Sustainability news:

Wafer fabs are major consumers of resources but there are amazing developments being made to reduce the carbon footprint of the industry. There is a lot of work to be done to reduce Semiconductor Water Reclaim rates and Scope 3 emissions generated by IC packaging requirements

Here are some of the solutions that have been generated or proposed by our industry.

GlobalFoundries, Brian Raley, talks about GF's Progress on its Journey to Zero Carbon. Sisk, an Irish based General Contractor talks of their plans to pioneer a worlds first low carbon concrete technology and finally Arcadis and Cool Planet have formed a Joint venture proposal to help decorbonise Semiconductor facilities

These are three excellent steps forward in our move towards a better planet. If you have any more examples, please send them to me for sharing.

Finally some recommended Reads for Mega Build Project Managers

This month we pick a company that focuses on construction project productivity. While construction productivity is a constant struggle on large project. In his Book, Building Better, Klaus Lemke, Managing Principal at Midion, outlines a practical model for putting lean thinking into action and improving the experience of project work. Midion will be hosting a launch event on the 7th November and I am delighted to pass on the link to the event here.

Wrap Up.

Remember, only read the parts you are interested in and if you have any that you wish to share, send them to me and I will pass them on. If I have missed any key announcements, please add a link in the comments and I will update at the first opportunity.

Until next month, remember #wearefabbuliders.