Passive components maker Yageo Corp (國巨) yesterday said it plans to invest NT$10 billion (US$325.71 million) over the next three years to build a plant for high-end multilayer ceramic capacitors (MLCC) and other passive components used in vehicles, filling a supply gap to be left by its Japanese peers.
Yageo, the world’s third-largest MLCC supplier, said it is to build the plant in Kaohsiung rather than China to minimize risks from the US-China trade war.
The company is the latest in a slew of local manufacturers that have announced their intention to relocate Chinese production lines or build new plants in Taiwan to avoid an extra burden on manufacturing costs caused by the trade dispute.
Photo: Chang Huei-wen, Taipei Times
Yageo said the investment would boost its MLCC capacity by 20 percent to 60 billion units a month by the end of next year, compared with 50 billion units by the end of this year.
In 2020, the capacity is to climb to 70 billion units a month, it said.
Yageo “aims to expand capacity for medium-to-large MLCCs and automotive-grade MLCCs as Japanese suppliers are to pull out of the market next year and the year after,” it said.
The expansion would also “fulfill the increasing demand for high-end components from new applications,” it said.
Japanese MLCC supplier Murata Manufacturing Co earlier this year told its customers that it plans to withdraw from certain traditional MLCC markets and focus on high-end MLCCs mostly for electric vehicles, Yageo said.
Murata plans to stop producing certain products in the spring of 2020, Yageo said.
The company’s exit would provide a boon to other manufacturers, as demand would increase by 20 percent and supply would be squeezed further, it said.
Yageo operates three MLCC plants: two in Kaohsiung and one in Suzhou, China.
Yageo’s board of directors yesterday approved a plan to acquire 21,000m2 of land in Kaohsiung’s Dafa Industrial Park (大發工業區) for NT$790 million in cash.
Including investments in land, the plant, equipment and environmental protection facilities, Yageo is to invest about NT$10 billion in capital expenditure over three years.
The company as of Sept. 30 had accumulated NT$36 billion in cash or cash equivalents, ensuring its ability to fund the expansion.
Shares of Yageo yesterday closed at NT$324, down more than 73 percent since its yearly high on July 2 of NT$1,230 on concern over demand headwinds.
FIREPOWER: On top of the torpedoes, the military would procure Kestrel II anti-tank weapons systems to replace aging license-produced M72 LAW launchers Taiwan is to receive US-made Mark 48 torpedoes and training simulators over the next three years, following delays that hampered the navy’s operational readiness, the Ministry of National Defense’s latest budget proposal showed. The navy next year would acquire four training simulator systems for the torpedoes and take receipt of 14 torpedoes in 2027 and 10 torpedoes in 2028, the ministry said in its budget for the next fiscal year. The torpedoes would almost certainly be utilized in the navy’s two upgraded Chien Lung-class submarines and the indigenously developed Hai Kun, should the attack sub successfully reach operational status. US President Donald Trump
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is expected to start construction of its 1.4-nanometer chip manufacturing facilities at the Central Taiwan Science Park (CTSP, 中部科學園區) as early as October, the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) reported yesterday, citing the park administration. TSMC acquired land for the second phase of the park’s expansion in Taichung in June. Large cement, construction and facility engineering companies in central Taiwan have reportedly been receiving bids for TSMC-related projects, the report said. Supply-chain firms estimated that the business opportunities for engineering, equipment and materials supply, and back-end packaging and testing could reach as high as
ALL QUIET: The Philippine foreign secretary told senators she would not respond to questions about whether Lin Chia-lung was in the country The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday confirmed that a business delegation is visiting the Philippines, but declined to say whether Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) is part of the group, as Philippine lawmakers raised questions over Lin’s reported visit. The group is being led by Deputy Minister of Agriculture Huang Chao-chin (黃昭欽), Chinese International Economic Cooperation Association (CIECA) chairman Joseph Lyu (呂桔誠) and US-Taiwan Business Council (USTBC) vice president Lotta Danielsson, the ministry said in a statement. However, sources speaking on condition of anonymity said that Lin is leading the delegation of 70 people. Filinvest New Clark City Innovation Park
DEFENSIVE EDGE: The liaison officer would work with Taiwan on drones and military applications for other civilian-developed technologies, a source said A Pentagon unit tasked with facilitating the US military’s adoption of new technology is soon to deploy officials to dozens of friendly nations, including Taiwan, the Financial Times reported yesterday. The US Department of Defense’s Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) is to send a representative to collaborate with Taiwan on drones and military applications from the semiconductor industry by the end of the year, the British daily reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter. “Drones will certainly be a focus, but they will also be looking at connecting to the broader civilian and dual-use ecosystem, including the tech sector,” one source was
RSS