INDUSTRY NEWS

Asia

Consortium to build Thai fab

A consortium comprising Siemens, Intel, and Macronix International will build a $1.2-billion fab in Thailand. The goal of the partnership is to establish a semiconductor manufacturing base in Thailand to compete with Taiwan and Singapore. The consortium is backed by the German government and is the first venture of its kind in Thailand. Siemens is the principal investor, and the government of Thailand is offering incentives. However, plans for the Thai government to take a 10 to 26% stake in the consortium through a private-equity fund reportedly have been cancelled. The partners have the option of taking over a fab project that was initiated and then abandoned by Submicron Technology in 1997 when it had financial problems. Macronix is participating because the chip manufacturer worries about a lack of land in Taiwan's science parks for new fabs. The company is located in the Science-Based Industrial Park in Hsinchu.

Chemical alliance set to launch

Mitsubishi Chemical and Honeywell have announced plans to combine their wet-process chemicals businesses in a global alliance. The companies say they will share plants throughout the United States, Europe, Taiwan, and Japan. Plans to develop manufacturing capabilities in Southeast Asia are also in the works. The vendors will sell a range of chemicals with impurity levels of less than 100 ppt. The product line will include hydrofluoric acid, ammonium hydroxide, hydrogen peroxide, and hydrochloric acid. The companies expect to close the transaction by the end of the year.

Laser vendors launch venture

Two Tokyo-based manufacturers of lasers for lithography systems have formed a joint excimer laser business. Komatsu and Ushio launched the business, called Gigaphoton, on August 1. The vendors will share an equal stake in the venture. Komatsu says it has more than 15% of the global market for excimer lasers. The partners hope to expand their new business quickly enough to offer an IPO in the near future.

Europe

Motorola opens Romanian center

Motorola's semiconductor products unit opened a center in Romania for developing digital signal-processing application software. Located in Bucharest, the Motorola DSP Center Romania will be linked with several universities, most prominent among them Politehnica University of Bucharest and Politehnica University of Timisoara. An initial staff of 15 software engineers will grow to approximately 50 members in the next two years, Motorola says.

The software center is the first of its kind for Motorola in Romania. It will develop technology for a global DSP market predicted to grow to $18 billion annually by 2004, according to Motorola. The Romanian venture will be associated with the semiconductor unit's DSP Core Technology Center in Austin, TX. The chipmaker says it will work with professors and students on research projects, design activities, and course development.

Lytron signs UK distributor

Lytron, a manufacturer of heat transfer systems and components, has hired AMS Thermotech as its UK distributor. AMS Thermotech will represent all of Lytron's products. These include recirculating chillers, copper and stainless-steel tube-fin heat exchangers, and ambient cooling systems. The Thermotech business is a division of AMS Technologies, which recently expanded operations in the United Kingdom from its base on the Continent. The new office will oversee technical, sales, and service support in England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland. Lytron's headquarters is in Woburn, MA.

Africa

Chemical plant set for S.A.

Widespread use of nitrogen trifluoride (NF₃) in both chipmaking and LCD production has prompted two major chemical producers to build a plant in South Africa. BOC Edwards and Pelchem are sharing costs for the new production facility at Pelchem's site in Pelindaba. The plant will begin production in the fourth quarter of 2000. Initial capacity will be 550,000 lb/yr. BOC Edwards says that global demand for NF₃ has increased since the middle of 1999, leading to a supply shortage over the past 12 months. Primary drivers have been the use of the chemical as a chamber cleaning gas in CVD processes, as an etchant, and in production of LCDs. The plant will supply grades of product for each use. NF₃ has lower levels of PFC emission than other comparable cleaning gases, BOC notes.

Pelchem, the chemical division of South Africa­based Necsa, makes fluorinated chemicals. BOC Edwards specializes in semiconductor gas analysis and packaging. BOC will market and distribute the chemical. The Industrial Development Corp. of South Africa, which has an equity investment in the venture, is financing the project.

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