DuPont Co, one of the world's largest chemical suppliers, is accelerating expansion plans in Taiwan to keep pace with rising demand for materials used in consumer electronics, a company official said yesterday.
The US chemical giant said it could accept no more orders for delivery this year of chemicals used in the production of liquid-crystal displays and printed circuit boards, said Diane H. Gulyas, group vice president DuPont's Electronic and Communication Technologies.
"The global tech recovery just came back faster than we thought ... Now we're rapidly expanding capacity around the world ... But I think the supply will remain tight during the second half of this year," Gulyas told reporters in Taipei.
She admitted that the spike in demand had resulted in a rise in prices.
To catch up with the strong demand, DuPont plans to triple the capacity of its factory in Taoyuan, the company's largest plant in the Asia-Pacific region, said Walt Cheng (
The annual output of the factory is expected to soar to 3 million tonnes of polyimide film, flexible polyimide laminate and screen printable materials used in the production of computers, cars, displays and bio-medical sensors, according to Cheng.
The capacity expansion will also extend to Dupont's Chinese plant in Donnguan.
"We plan to double the output," Cheng said.
"Even so, we're still uncertain about whether the supply constraints will ease during the second half," Cheng said, because shipments will be capped by the ongoing tight supply of precious metals.
In addition to the capacity expansion, DuPont yesterday announced it was spending US$20 million to US$30 million over three years on setting up a technical application center in Taoyuan.
In the first phase, DuPont will hire about 25 to 30 technological researchers, Cheng said.
The new lab will focus on developing technologies in the areas of displays, semiconductors and alternative energy to keep up with demand from customers who are aggressively expanding their semiconductor and flat-panel operations.
"We already talked to a lot of Taiwan's display companies to understand their needs, especially when they are expanding to sixth-and seventh-generation plants that produce bigger panels," Gulyas said.
A DisplaySearch report released in late January said that AU Optronics Corp (友達光電) and its Taiwanese peers are expected to lead equipment spending this year and will account for half of the total US$9.42 billion for the world's thin-film-transistor LCD makers.
"It's good to see DuPont joining the game as Taiwan's market has long been dominated by Japanese optoelectronic material suppliers such as JSR Corp," commented Aldirich Lai (
But it will be a challenge for DuPont to take market share from its Japanese rivals, which have been supplying high-quality electronic and display materials for Taiwan's LCD industry.
Another unfavorable factor is the timing, he said. DuPont is entering the market just as the boom in the TFT-LCD industry is ending, Lai warned.
"When business is bad, it's even more unlikely for Taiwanese flat-panel makers to switch suppliers," he said.
The domestic unit of the Chinese-owned, Dutch-headquartered chipmaker Nexperia BV will soon be able to produce semiconductors locally within China, according to two company sources. Nexperia is at the center of a global tug-of-war over critical semiconductor technology, with a Dutch court in February ordering a probe into alleged mismanagement at the company. The geopolitical tussle has disrupted supply chains, with some carmakers reportedly forced to cut production due to chip shortages. Local production would allow Nexperia’s domestic arm, Nexperia Semiconductors (China) Ltd (安世半導體中國), to bypass restrictions in place since October on the supply of silicon wafers — etched with tiny components to
Taiwan’s foreign exchange reserves fell below the US$600 billion mark at the end of last month, with the central bank reporting a total of US$596.89 billion — a decline of US$8.6 billion from February — ending a three-month streak of increases. The central bank attributed the drop to a combination of factors such as outflows by foreign institutional investors, currency fluctuations and its own market interventions. “The large-scale outflows disrupted the balance of supply and demand in the foreign exchange market, prompting the central bank to intervene repeatedly by selling US dollars to stabilize the local currency,” Department of Foreign
Taiwan is open to joining a global liquefied natural gas (LNG) program if one is created, but on the condition that countries provide delivery even in a scenario where there is a conflict with China, an energy department official said yesterday. While Taiwan’s priority is to have enough LNG at home, the nation is open to exploring potential strategic reserves in other countries such as Japan or South Korea, Energy Administration Deputy Director-General Chen Chung-hsien (陳崇憲) said. While the LNG market does not have a global reserve for emergencies like that of oil, the concept has been raised a few times —
AI-FUELED DEMAND: The company has been benefiting from the skyrocketing prices for DRAM chips amid the AI frenzy, especially its core product — DDR4 DRAM chips DRAM chipmaker Nanya Technology Corp (南亞科技) yesterday reported that its revenue for the first quarter surged 582.91 percent to NT$49.09 billion (US$1.54 billion) from NT$7.19 billion a year earlier, as the supply crunch caused chip price spikes. Last quarter’s figure is the highest on record. On a quarterly basis, revenue jumped 63.14 percent from NT$30.09 billion, the company said. In January, Nanya Technology expected global DRAM supply scarcity to continue through the first half of 2028, thanks to strong demand for artificial intelligence (AI) applications. Market researcher TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) forecast prices of standard DRAM chips would rise between 58 percent and 63
RSS