Taiwan’s GlobalWafers to invest $5 billion in new silicon wafer plant in Texas

The company said the new plant, manufacturing 300-millimetre silicon wafers, would start being built later this year and generate as many as 1,500 jobs in Texas

Taiwan's GlobalWafers Co Ltd will spend $5 billion on a new plant in Texas to make silicon wafers used in semiconductors, switching to the United States after a failed European investment.

(Sign up to our Technology newsletter, Today’s Cache, for insights on emerging themes at the intersection of technology, business and policy. Click here to subscribe for free.)

The company said late on Monday the new plant, manufacturing 300-millimetre silicon wafers, would start being built later this year and generate as many as 1,500 jobs in Sherman, Texas.

"With the global chips shortage and ongoing geopolitical concerns, GlobalWafers is taking this opportunity to address the United States semiconductor supply chain resiliency issue by building an advanced node, state-of-the-art, 300-millimetre silicon wafer factory," Chairwoman and CEO Doris Hsu said.

"Instead of importing wafers from Asia, GlobalWafers USA (GWA) will produce and supply wafers locally."

The company added that the investment would be done "phase by phase" based on confirming actual customer demand.

The United States has been encouraging foreign tech firms to manufacture in the country, and the government welcomed the move, with U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo saying it would strengthen economic and national security.