Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) board of directors is to decide in favor of building a factory in the German city of Dresden, the Handelsblatt daily reported yesterday, citing government sources.
The German government would support the construction of the factory by providing 5 billion euros (US$5.49 billion), the sources said.
The German Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action declined to comment on the report.
Photo: Ann Wang, Reuters
TSMC, the world’s largest contract chipmaker, has been in talks with the German state of Saxony since 2021 about building a fab in Dresden.
It is to operate the factory in a joint venture with Robert Bosch GmbH, Infineon Technologies AG and NXP Semiconductors NV, the sources told Handelsblatt.
After the board gives the green light, TSMC, which plans to use the Dresden plant primarily to produce chips for the automotive industry, could sign a letter of intent with Berlin on the funding, with the final decision to be made by the European Commission, the report said.
TSMC is one of several chipmakers, including Intel Corp and Wolfspeed Inc, seeking to draw on government funding to build factories in Europe.
Brussels and EU member states are pushing for domestic production by offering billions in state subsidies to cut dependency on Asian suppliers and ease a global chip shortage which created havoc for automakers.
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