Investment & expansion
BOC Edwards is building seven gas plant facilities to ensure bulk gas supply to nine new semiconductor and flat panel display fabs. The gas supply schemes, paving the way for these multiple supply contracts, are being developed as part of a $75mn investment with BOC's long-term joint venture partner, BOC Lienhwa Industrial Gases (BOCLH).
Through BOCLH, BOC Edwards will reinforce its nitrogen (N2) pipeline infrastructure by building two ultra high-purity N2 gas generator plants to supply Hsinchu Science Park in Taiwan. This investment will support bulk gas supply contracts won at four new 300mm fabs.
BOC Edwards comments that the Hsinchu Science Park accounts for some 10% of total global output of semiconductor devices, more than 80% of wafer foundry capacity, and is home to more than 325 high-tech companies.
M+W Zander successfully completed construction of a new memory IC packaging plant in Suzhou (China), commissioned by Infineon Technologies. The clean room area measures some 10,000m2. M+W Zander started on initial conceptual studies for constructing the new production plant in June 2003. Work started on the project at the beginning of November 2003. Less than nine months later, in July 2004, installation of the first process equipment commenced.
Production of the first memory products is scheduled to start up at the end of the year. Mass production of up to 1bn chips a year is projected from 2005. Infineon has a share of some 72.5% in the new production site. The remaining 27.5% is owned by the China-Singapore Suzhou Industrial Park organisation.
