Yageo Corp (國巨), the nation’s largest passive components supplier, on Saturday broke ground for a new plant in Kaohsiung that is expected to begin commercial production in 2022.
Yageo chairman Pierre Chen (陳泰銘) told the groundbreaking ceremony that it would be the company’s first new plant in the city in 15 years as it embarks on a plan to move its high-end technology production back home from overseas.
The plant, which is expected to be completed in August 2022, would produce passive components, such as chip resistors, inductors and multi-layer ceramic capacitors (MLCCs), starting in October that year, Yageo said.
Photo: CNA
The plant is being built at a cost of NT$5 billion (US$173.33 million), with an additional NT$13 billion to NT$15 billion allocated for equipment to produce advanced MLCCs, and is expected to create 3,000 new jobs, the company said.
The facility would have 10 stories with a floor area of 85,800m2, about 1.3 times the size of Yageo’s two other MLCC factories in Kaohsiung.
When the plant starts operation, 60 percent of Yageo’s total MLCC production would be in Taiwan, Chen said.
The production lines in Taiwan are to manufacture specialty and high-end MLCCs for use in the fields of automotive electronics, medical care, aviation, 5G and the Internet of Things, among others, he said.
With three plants in operation in Taiwan, Yageo’s MLCC production capacity would increase from 60 billion to 100 billion units per month, cementing its position as a leading global MLCC supplier, Chen said.
Yageo would also boost its development of high-technology through expansion, he said, citing the company’s acquisition earlier this year of US companies Kemet Corp and Pulse Electronics Corp for US$1.64 billion and US$740 million respectively.
Yageo would continue to invest in Kaohsiung as part of its plan to make Taiwan its manufacturing hub over the next five years, Chen said.
The company said it has teamed up with National Cheng Kung University in Tainan to establish a research and development center, where it would set up an academy to foster talent for the development of passive components.
Yageo has invested at least NT$50 million in the center, which has two research compounds, one in Kaohsiung and the other at the university.
Yageo is the largest maker of chip resistors and tantalum capacitors, but only 25 percent of its employees are in Taiwan, while 50 percent of its overseas workers are in China.
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