The Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) yesterday said it has approved 10 companies’ applications to invest NT$40.7 billion (US$1.47 billion) as part of the government’s Invest in Taiwan initiative.
Printed circuit board maker (PCB) Unimicron Technology Corp (欣興電子) applied for a second round of investment totaling NT$26 billion to add eight production lines in Hsinchu County to expand its flip-chip substrate capacity, the ministry said yesterday.
The company is expanding capacity to meet rising demand from 5G applications, consumer electronics and automotive components, the ministry said, adding that the investment would create 677 local jobs.
Photo: Win Semiconductors official Web site
The new project would bring Unimicron’s total investment to more than NT$50 billion, creating 1,300 jobs.
Unimicron first participated in the Invest in Taiwan initiative in 2019, investing in a Taoyuan plant. The company produces PCBs, high-density interconnection boards, flexible PCBs, rigid-flex PCBs and integrated circuit carriers, among others. Its customers include leaders in the semiconductor supply chain.
The Invest in Taiwan initiative encourages quality industrial investment in Taiwan from returning Taiwanese companies, as well as local firms looking to upgrade their production by providing the businesses with favorable loan terms and other means of support.
Win Semiconductors Corp (穩懋半導體), founded in October 1999 and the first pure-play 6-inch gallium arsenide (GaAs) foundry in the world, is participating in the “roots in Taiwan” category of the Invest in Taiwan program.
Also a returning participant, Win Semiconductors previously expanded its facilities in Taoyuan with the help of the program.
However, in anticipation of capacities running short, it is planning to invest NT$11 billion in the Kaohsiung section of Southern Taiwan Science Park (南部科學園區) to build another 6-inch GaAs foundry. The wafers produced at the plant will serve mobile handset, wireless infrastructure and 3D laser detection needs.
Other applicants approved yesterday were local snack food conglomerate Imei Foods Co (義美食品), bicycle parts maker Super B Precision Tools Co (保忠精密工具), Hung Han Technology Corp (弘翰科技), Ren Yow Industrial Co (仁侑工業), Unlifa Co (允力發), Super B Precision Tools Co (保忠精密), Medserv Biotech Co (長寅科技), Shen Fa Xing Food Co (盛發興食品) and Global Green Material Co (豐溢綠能材料).
Since the program was implemented, the Invest in Taiwan initiative has attracted more than 1,100 businesses to return, reinvest or expand in the nation, pouring in NT$1.55 trillion in investments and creating 123,038 local jobs.
TARIFF TRADE-OFF: Machinery exports to China dropped after Beijing ended its tariff reductions in June, while potential new tariffs fueled ‘front-loaded’ orders to the US The nation’s machinery exports to the US amounted to US$7.19 billion last year, surpassing the US$6.86 billion to China to become the largest export destination for the local machinery industry, the Taiwan Association of Machinery Industry (TAMI, 台灣機械公會) said in a report on Jan. 10. It came as some manufacturers brought forward or “front-loaded” US-bound shipments as required by customers ahead of potential tariffs imposed by the new US administration, the association said. During his campaign, US president-elect Donald Trump threatened tariffs of as high as 60 percent on Chinese goods and 10 percent to 20 percent on imports from other countries.
Taiwanese manufacturers have a chance to play a key role in the humanoid robot supply chain, Tongtai Machine and Tool Co (東台精機) chairman Yen Jui-hsiung (嚴瑞雄) said yesterday. That is because Taiwanese companies are capable of making key parts needed for humanoid robots to move, such as harmonic drives and planetary gearboxes, Yen said. This ability to produce these key elements could help Taiwanese manufacturers “become part of the US supply chain,” he added. Yen made the remarks a day after Nvidia Corp cofounder and chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said his company and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) are jointly
United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電) expects its addressable market to grow by a low single-digit percentage this year, lower than the overall foundry industry’s 15 percent expansion and the global semiconductor industry’s 10 percent growth, the contract chipmaker said yesterday after reporting the worst profit in four-and-a-half years in the fourth quarter of last year. Growth would be fueled by demand for artificial intelligence (AI) servers, a moderate recovery in consumer electronics and an increase in semiconductor content, UMC said. “UMC’s goal is to outgrow our addressable market while maintaining our structural profitability,” UMC copresident Jason Wang (王石) told an online earnings
MARKET SHIFTS: Exports to the US soared more than 120 percent to almost one quarter, while ASEAN has steadily increased to 18.5 percent on rising tech sales The proportion of Taiwan’s exports directed to China, including Hong Kong, declined by more than 12 percentage points last year compared with its peak in 2020, the Ministry of Finance said on Thursday last week. The decrease reflects the ongoing restructuring of global supply chains, driven by escalating trade tensions between Beijing and Washington. Data compiled by the ministry showed China and Hong Kong accounted for 31.7 percent of Taiwan’s total outbound sales last year, a drop of 12.2 percentage points from a high of 43.9 percent in 2020. In addition to increasing trade conflicts between China and the US, the ministry said
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