Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is in advanced talks with suppliers about setting up its first European plant in Dresden, Germany, the Financial Times reported yesterday.
TSMC is sending a team of senior executives to Germany early next month to discuss the level of government support and the capacity of the local supply chain to meet the prospective plant’s needs, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter.
TSMC said in a statement responding to the report: “We do not rule out any possibility but there is no concrete plan at this time.”
Photo: Bloomberg
It did not elaborate.
The Financial Times did not specify whether any government support would be federal, regional or local.
The east German state of Saxony, of which Dresden is the capital, said it is always in talks with leading companies in the microelectronics industry, but the companies themselves make decisions about new locations.
“In that sense, Saxony supports these companies with the aim of further strengthening Silicon Saxony as a high-tech location,” the state government said.
Taiwan and the EU held high-level trade talks in June. Less than a week after that meeting, TSMC said it had no concrete plans for factories in Europe.
However, TSMC last year flagged that it was in the early stages of reviewing a potential expansion in Germany.
The chipmaker’s talks with several materials and equipment suppliers are focused on whether they can also make the investments required to support the plant, the Financial Times said, adding that if the firm presses ahead with a Dresden plant, it would focus on 22-nanometer and 28-nanometer chip technologies.
Under the European Chips Act, the European Commission earmarked 15 billion euros (US$15.9 billion) for public and private semiconductor projects by 2030 and to double the EU’s share of the highly competitive chip market.
TSMC is also building plants in the US and Japan.
The secretary-general of a Japanese ruling party lawmakers’ group on chip strategy yesterday said he believed TSMC is considering a second chip plant in the country.
The world’s largest contract chipmaker and Asia’s most valuable listed company said it also does not rule out any possibility for Japan, but that there were no concrete plans.
Earlier this month, TSMC said it would more than triple its planned investment at its new Arizona plant to US$40 billion, which would be among the largest foreign investments in US history.
The company expects its Phoenix factories to create 13,000 high-tech jobs, including 4,500 under TSMC and the rest at suppliers.
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