Chartered Semiconductor Breaks Ground on Mega-Fab
Cutting-edge technologies will be
manufacturing focus
SINGAPORE -- February 18, 2000 -- Today in a ceremony officiated by
Singapore's prime minister, Goh Chok Tong, Chartered Semiconductor
Manufacturing (Nasdaq:Chrt, SGX-ST:Chartered) broke ground on a new
"green-field" fabrication facility at its main Singapore campus located at
Woodlands Industrial Park. The new fab will support the semiconductor industry
trend toward outsourcing of the manufacturing function.
The mega-fab, called Fab 7, will be equipped to support advanced
manufacturing process technologies starting at 0.15 micron. To speed the time
to initial production, Fab 7 is expected to begin providing wafer fabrication
services using the well-proven state-of-the-art 8-inch wafers. The
construction of Fab 7 is designed to allow Chartered to put in 300mm
equipment, depending on customer demand and market trends..
Fab 7 and its manufacturing support building will occupy about 4.3
hectares, or 11.75 acres of land. The buildings are currently sized at 775,000
square feet. The cleanroom production area will be approximately 170,000
square feet, making it one of the largest eight-inch wafer fabrication centers
in the world to be built at this point in time.
The cost of construction and equipment in the new facility is currently
estimated at approximately US$2.1 billion. First wafer output at the new
facility is expected to occur in mid-2001. The new fab is also likely to
employ up to 1,000 engineers, operators and support personnel.
"To support the industry's increasing reliance on external foundry services
and our customers' expectations for capacity, we have added four new foundries
since the opening of our first fabrication facility in 1989," stated Barry
Waite, president and CEO of Chartered. "This new fab will allow us to maintain
our level of service and meet the business opportunities that our customers
present to us.
"While we have investigated sites around the world for the new fab, we
believe that Singapore provides an ideal location," Mr. Waite continued. "By
having our fabrication facilities close to one another, we leverage the
combined strengths of our resources, knowledge and staff."
According to Joanne Itow, senior analyst at Arizona-based Semico Research
Corporation, wafer demand is expected to increase from 6.5 million wafers a
year in 1998 to an estimated 21.9 million wafers in 2003, amounting to a
compound annual growth rate of 27 percent. Ms. Itow estimates that independent
dedicated foundries like Chartered will supply over 60 percent of this
demand.
In January, Chartered announced its intention to double manufacturing
capacity from approximately 700,000 wafers a year to 1.4 million wafers by the
end of 2001. The capacity plan is being implemented in stages that will allow
the Company to add capacity on a continuing basis.
The first stage is the completion of Chartered Silicon Partners, or Fab 6,
the Company's joint venture with a subsidiary of Agilent Technologies, Inc., a
spin-off of Hewlett-Packard Company, and EDB Investments Pte. Ltd. The
building was constructed last year and equipment is now being installed and
qualified. Volume production is expected to begin in the middle of this
year.
Chartered is also reconfiguring floor space in its existing fabs to provide
additional monthly capacity for an estimated 20,000 8-inch-equivalent
wafers.
- About Chartered
- Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing (Nasdaq:CHRT and SGX-ST:CHARTERED)
is one of the world's leading independent foundries providing wafer
fabrication services. Guided by the tenets of trust, service, partnership,
advanced technology and stability, the Company aims to provide world-class
semiconductor foundry services that enable customers to create and deliver
market-leading system-level solutions. Chartered operates five fabrication
facilities that serve high-growth, technologically advanced applications
such as communications and networking. Headquartered in Singapore, Chartered
employs approximately 3400 people at its 11 locations in North America, Asia
and Europe.
