STMicroelectronics NV, a French-Italian chipmaker, and US-based GlobalFoundries Inc are to invest 5.7 billion euros (US$5.75 billion) in a new semiconductor factory in France, the firms and French President Emmanuel Macron’s office said yesterday.
The two companies aim “to create a new, jointly-operated semiconductor manufacturing facility adjacent to STMicro’s existing 300mm facility in Crolles,” STMicroelectronics said in a statement, referring to its plant outside Grenoble in southeastern France.
Expected to employ about 1,000 people, the factory should reach full capacity by 2026, the company added, with the factory seen as part of efforts to reduce European dependency on Asian manufacturing.
GlobalFoundries and STMicroelectronics plan to produce their latest designs at the plant, with some elements as small as 18 nanometers — about 5,000 times smaller than the thickness of a sheet of paper.
Such chips “are expected to remain in high demand for automotive, Internet of Things and mobile applications for the next few decades,” STMicroelectronics said.
The company added that the factory would receive “significant financial support from the state of France.”
“This is the biggest industrial investment of recent decades outside of the nuclear industry,” French Minister of Economy and Finance Bruno Le Maire wrote on Twitter. “It’s a big step for our industrial sovereignty.”
Shortages of chips mostly produced in Asia have held up vital European industries such as automakers even after COVID-19 restrictions were relaxed.
US chip giant Intel Corp in March said that it would invest up to 80 billion euros into its EU operations over the coming decade, especially in Germany, France and Ireland.
The new Crolles factory would help Europe achieve the goal of producing 20 percent of global semiconductors by 2030, STMicroelectronics said.
The Elysee Palace said Crolles “will become France’s biggest semiconductor production site and one of the largest in Europe.”
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