TSMC to hold groundbreaking ceremony for German fab Aug. 20

Taipei, July 30 (CNA) Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) issued a statement Tuesday indicating that a groundbreaking ceremony on Aug. 20 in Dresden, Germany for its first plant in Europe will go ahead as scheduled.

The Dresden plant -- formally known as European Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp. (ESMC) fab -- is a joint venture with minority stakes held by Robert Bosch GmbH, Infineon Technologies AG, and NXP Semiconductors NV. TSMC holds a 70 percent stake.

TSMC Chairman and CEO C.C. Wei (魏哲家) will attend the groundbreaking ceremony, which represents an important milestone for the company and its investment partners in the European semiconductor industry, according to the statement.

Construction of the fab is set to begin by the end of 2024, with production targeted to start by the end of 2027, according to TSMC, the world's largest contract chipmaker.

The planned fab with total investments of 10 billion euros (US$10.81 billion) is expected to have a monthly production capacity of 40,000 300mm (12-inch) wafers using TSMC's 28/22nm planar CMOS and 16/12nm FinFET manufacturing processes, and create about 2,000 direct high-tech professional jobs, according to the company.