GlobalWafers to open U.S.' first 12-inch silicon wafer fab soon

Taipei, May 10 (CNA) Taiwan-based GlobalWafers Co. will mark the completion of its 12-inch silicon wafer plant in Texas on May 15, the first facility of its kind in the United States.

The completion of the Texas plant represents a new milestone, as Taiwanese companies are speeding up their investments in the U.S. market, GlobalWafers said Saturday.

Taiwan's Economic Affairs Minister Kuo Jyh-huei (郭智輝) is expected to attend a ceremony in Texas on May 15 to celebrate the milestone, said the company, which is the world's third-largest supplier of silicon wafers.

GlobalWafers said the plant will be the first of its kind in the U.S., manufacturing high-volume advanced 12-inch silicon wafers.

It is expected to put the U.S. on track to become a sophisticated silicon wafer production hub for the first time in more than two decades, the company said.

The new fab will also help address the shortage of critical semiconductor components in the American supply chain, GlobalWafers said.

Silicon wafers are a key component used by pure-play wafer foundries and integrated device manufacturers to manufacture leading-edge, mature silicon nodes and memory chips, GlobalWafers added.

The new Texas plant is expected to start to contribute sales to GlobalWafters in the second half of the year with 12-inch silicon-on-insulator ("SOI") wafers, which will be used in the defense and aerospace industries, GlobalWafers said.

The GlobalWafers plant was built after the company' subsidiaries - GlobalWafers America, LLC (GWA) and MEMC LLC (MEMC) - were awarded funding of up to US$406 million for investments in the U.S. under the country's CHIPS and Science Act, which was passed in 2022 with the aim of revitalizing the domestic semiconductor industry and bolstering U.S. competitiveness in technology and science.

GlobalWafers spent US$5 billion to build the 12-inch silicon wafer plant, as well as a research and development center, in Sherman, Texas.

Noting that Texas is the largest state in the U.S. with the second largest population, the company said that in 2023, bilateral trade between the state and Taiwan totaled US$21.3 billion, with Taiwan being the fifth largest Asian buyer of Texas goods.

In 2024, GlobalWafers posted NT$62.6 billion (US$2.07 billion) in consolidated sales, down 11.4 percent from a year earlier, but the figure was the third highest in the company's history.