Merck announced that it will invest 3.896 billion yuan in Taiwan, China to increase semiconductor material research and development

On December 15th, German semiconductor material supplier Merck (MERCK) announced yesterday that it will invest approximately RMB 3.896 billion in Taiwan, China within 5 to 7 years, focusing on the new production line of the electronic technology business unit and the substantial expansion of research and development capabilities. , And focus on the development of the semiconductor business. Merck stated that this investment case will be Merck's largest investment in its 30 years of operations in Taiwan, China.

The five-year investment plan will be part of the "pursuing upward" global growth plan announced by the headquarters a few days ago. For this plan, Merck expects to accumulate a total global investment of more than 3.6 billion U.S. dollars for the research and development of material solutions and related capital expenditures to promote the accelerated growth of Merck in the electronic technology market.

Merck pointed out that the goal of China's investment plan in Taiwan is to strengthen local manufacturing and research and development capabilities to support the needs of the global electronic technology industry. The scope of Merck Semiconductor includes 7 key steps in front-end wafer manufacturing and back-end packaging and testing: doping, patterning, deposition, planarization, etching, cleaning, packaging, and also provides special gas and chemical supply equipment for semiconductor fabs solution. Through the expansion of its territory in Taiwan, Merck will further localize a number of semiconductor product lines and introduce Merck's expertise in wafer manufacturing and packaging and testing.

This investment is divided into several stages. First, in 2022, the Kaohsiung Campus of the Southern Science Park will set up a production center with an area of more than 15 hectares, and the products will be produced in sequence according to the procedures of each product. Later, Merck's first large-scale semiconductor material production and application R&D center was established, which included Merck's full range of semiconductor solution products, including thin film materials, special gases, patterning and planarization materials, and providing key manufacturing materials for advanced semiconductor manufacturing processes.

The Kaohsiung plant will also expand the production and R&D capabilities of electronic material supply systems and services, and add forward-looking product lines for storage and transportation of special gases and chemical materials. Construction of the plant will begin in December, and products will be supplied to customers in Taiwan, China and Asia by the end of 2022. In addition to Kaohsiung, Merck also plans to integrate and upgrade the energy and core capabilities of semiconductor R&D in Hsinchu, and set up an integrated R&D center to provide strength and expertise across the entire semiconductor process to provide customers with fast and effective services. The first step of the integrated R&D center is to expand the chemical mechanical planarization technology R&D and application laboratory in 2021.

In addition to semiconductor materials, display material solutions are also one of Merck's investment priorities. Merck will continue to invest in non-traditional display technologies, expand the production capacity of graphic materials, and strengthen the layout of display materials in Taiwan, China.