Air Liquide Far Eastern Ltd (ALFE, 亞東工業氣體) is to invest NT$4 billion (US$138.84 million) to build a production facility at Hsinchu Science Park (新竹科學園區), the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday.
ALFE yesterday held a groundbreaking ceremony for the facility, which would produce highly pure industrial gasses for high-tech businesses at the park.
Founded in 1987 as a joint venture between France’s Air Liquide SA and Far Eastern New Century Group (遠東新世紀集團), ALFE is making the largest investment by a French manufacturer in Taiwan, the ministry said.
Air Liquide operates across 80 countries, and has centers in Hsinchu, Kaohsiung, Taichung, Tainan, Taipei and Taoyuan to supply pure gasses and advanced materials to the electronics industry.
ALFE president Olivier Blachier said at the ceremony that the company provides a “total solution” for industrial and medical clients.
The new facility is part of the government’s “Invest in Taiwan” initiative, which provides assistance and favorable loan terms for qualifying projects.
“The goal of the InvesTaiwan Service Center is to accelerate the timeline of Taiwanese investments,” the ministry said in a statement. “By continuing to attract foreign investment and accelerating the research and development of semiconductor production, we ensure Taiwan’s semiconductor industry maintains a global advantage.”
The center also said that Chenghai Metallurgy Corp (承化實業) would invest NT$400 million to build smart factories in Miaoli County’s (苗栗) Toufen Township (頭份).
Chenghai Metallurgy has been “perfecting powder metallurgy processes for more than 30 years,” the ministry said.
Chenghai counts Honda Motor Co, Intai Technology Corp (鐿鈦科技) and Taiwan Fu Hsing Industry Co (台灣福興工業) among its clients, and is the only powder metallurgy company in Taiwan that has production facilities on both sides of the Taiwan Strait and in Southeast Asia, it said.
So far 725 companies have participated in the initiative, accounting for more than NT$1.1 trillion in investment and creating 95,819 jobs in Taiwan, the ministry said, adding that 53 projects are awaiting assessment for participation.
Two US Federal Reserve officials reinforced expectations the central bank would slow their pace of interest rate increases next month, even as they stressed the need to keep tightening. San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly and Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester said during separate remarks on Monday that inflation remains too high and policymakers have a way to go before completing their tightening campaign. However, they both characterized the need for officials to be judicious as they calibrate policy. “I think we can slow down from the 75 at the next meeting, I don’t have a problem with that,” Mester said during
‘SEASONED’: Chiang Shang-yi is to help guide Hon Hai’s global semiconductor development strategy as the firm accelerates the pace of capacity deployment Hon Hai Technology Group (鴻海科技集團) has hired former Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) cochief operating officer Chiang Shang-yi (蔣尚義) as a strategy officer to assist its semiconductor business development, the group said yesterday. Chiang’s appointment took effect immediately. He is to report directly to Hon Hai chairman Young Liu (劉揚偉). Chiang was the central figure in TSMC’s technology advancement, and once considered a potential successor to TSMC founder and former chairman Morris Chang (張忠謀). He spent the past few years in China assisting Chinese chipmakers Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (中芯國際) and Wuhan Hongxin Semiconductor Corp (武漢弘芯半導體). Chiang on Oct. 18 attended a
PRIORITY SHIFT: TSMC previously said it would build two new fabs in Kaohsiung, but earlier this month said it was postponing construction of a 7-nanometer factory Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday said that construction of a factory in Kaohsiung to produce 28-nanometer chips is under way, with mass production set to start in 2024. TSMC, the world’s largest contract chipmaker, made the announcement after reports about the company’s capacity expansion plans in Kaohsiung. Industry insiders said that TSMC on Friday awarded the contract to build the new fab to Fu Tsu Construction Co (互助營造). The chipmaker, a major Apple Inc supplier, did not directly respond to the reports, saying only that construction had started following the completion of land grading. TSMC previously said it intended to build a
More than 20,000 employees at Apple Inc supplier Foxconn Technology Group’s (富士康) huge Chinese plant, mostly new hires not yet working on production lines, have left, a Foxconn source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The departures from the world’s largest iPhone factory dealt a fresh blow to the Taiwanese company, which has been grappling with strict COVID-19 restrictions that have fueled worker discontent and disrupted production ahead of Christmas and January’s Lunar New Year holiday. Concerns are mounting over Apple’s ability to deliver products for the busy holiday period as the worker unrest lingers at the Zhengzhou plant, which produces the
RSS