The federal government and industry want global semiconductor groups to invest in Germany. A major project is now under way.
The Taiwanese semiconductor group TSMC is pushing ahead with plans for its own production in Germany. According to information from “Capital”, the chip giant is considering building a plant in the greater Dresden area. Other chip manufacturers have already set up production facilities there in recent years. In order to explore the possibilities in Germany, a TSMC delegation is to travel to Saxony in October.
TSMC’s explorations could be an important step in trying to make Germany more independent of global supply chains in the supply of semiconductors. Bottlenecks as a result of the corona pandemic had led to a chip shortage for months, especially among German car manufacturers. The German automotive industry is apparently pushing hard for a TSMC settlement in Germany. According to Taiwanese media, the plan is to use the technology of modern 300 millimeter wafers – the discs on which the chips are attached.
TSMC is the world’s largest contract manufacturer of semiconductors, but has concentrated much of its production in Taiwan. In the course of the tensions with China, the pressure on the group is increasing to also build factories in the USA and the EU. A company spokesman said that “no concrete decision had yet been made” on the European plans. TSMC referred to a period of silence before the next financial report, which will be presented on Thursday.
The Federal Ministry of Economics did not want to confirm TSMC’s specific interest on request. However, the federal government is prepared to extensively promote the settlement of semiconductor manufacturers in the country. The goal is to “increase research and production capacities in Germany and the EU and to support industry with good framework conditions to diversify their supply chains more,” said a ministry spokeswoman.
In mid-March, the US chip manufacturer Intel announced the construction of a gigafactory in Magdeburg. The project is to be subsidized under the European Chips Act – a law designed to boost semiconductor manufacturing in the EU.
