PSMC's New Tongluo Factory Inauguration Attracts Distinguished Guests from Home and Abroad

On the 2nd, Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation (PSMC) held an inauguration ceremony for its new factory in Tongluo. This investment project for a 12-inch wafer fab, with a total amount exceeding NT$300 billion, has completed the installation of the first batch of equipment and has begun trial production. The new factory will serve as the primary platform for PSMC to advance process technology and secure large international customer orders.

The ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new PSMC factory in the Miaoli Tongluo Science Park was attended by President Tsai Ing-wen, Minister of Science and Technology Wu Tsung-tsong, Minister of National Development Council Kung Ming-hsin, Miaoli County Magistrate Chung Tung-chin, representatives from the American Institute in Taiwan, and diplomats from India, Japan, France, as well as the Governor of Miyagi Prefecture in Japan. Nearly 700 senior executives from semiconductor upstream and downstream companies, both domestic and international, also attended the event.

PSMC Chairman Huang Chongren stated that the construction of the Tongluo factory began in March 2021. During the pandemic, all company employees collaborated with partner firms to expedite the construction and equipment installation continuously. Despite this, it still took three years for the new factory to be completed and operational. To date, more than NT$80 billion has been invested in this 12-inch wafer fab project, highlighting the high time, technology, and capital barriers in establishing new semiconductor capacity. Fortunately, the company made quick decisions and proceeded with the construction. Otherwise, the recent international inflation driving up the cost of raw materials would have made the construction costs of this new factory even higher.

The land area of the PSMC Tongluo plant exceeds 110,000 square meters. The newly completed first-phase plant features a 28,000 square meter clean room. This new factory is expected to establish a 12-inch wafer production line with a monthly capacity of 50,000 wafers using 55, 40, and 28-nanometer processes. As business grows, the company plans to build a second-phase plant at the Tongluo site to further advance its 2x-nanometer technology.

Huang Chongren pointed out that geopolitical conflicts are gradually triggering a reorganization of the global supply chain. At this critical moment, when major international semiconductor IDMs and IC design companies are rethinking production and sales resilience and AI applications are creating new opportunities for semiconductor chips, the opening of the new Tongluo factory is timely. It meets the strategic needs of large customers to build resilient supply chains and will significantly boost PSMC's future revenue.