South Korean media reported that GlobalWafers will invest 480 billion won to build a plant in Cheonan City, South Korea, to increase production capacity of 12-inch silicon wafers. GlobalWafers' Japanese subsidiary, GlobalWafers Japan (GWJ), has also announced that it will invest approximately 8.5 billion yen to increase production of semiconductor silicon wafers.
In response to the plan to increase production, GlobalWafers recently indicated that it plans to build a factory in the suburbs of Seoul, South Korea. After determining the details of the investment, it will be officially announced in September. In this regard, Doris Hsu said that South Korea's 12-inch silicon fab is expected to start construction before the end of September, and officially introduce mass production in the second half of 2020. The expansion capacity is mainly supply to neighboring Samsung, SK hynix and other semiconductor manufacturers.
Regarding Shin-Etsu Chemical and SUMCO, there is also a plan to increase production. Doris Hsu said that all manufacturers are increasing production in response to insufficient supply, and there is no trend to cause price collapse. In addition to South Korea, Globalwafers is currently evaluating other investment locations, including Japan and the United States, but it will take time to evaluate.
