Siltronic's new S$3b wafer manufacturing facility to create 600 jobs in Singapore: Gan

THE new S$3 billion wafer manufacturing facility that German multinational Siltronic is building in Singapore will create "600 good jobs" here when it is ready, said Trade and Industry Minister Gan Kim Yong on Tuesday (Oct 26).

These positions will be for professionals, engineers, technicians and other skilled workers.

The plant is Munich-based Siltronic's biggest investment in its history and its second 300mm fab in Singapore. The Republic is now the company's largest manufacturing base that accounts for a major part of its total production, said Gan at the groundbreaking ceremony of the facility at JTC's Tampines Wafer Fab Park.

Siltronic started its operations in JTC's Tampines Wafer Fab Park back in 1999 with the manufacturing of 200mm silicon wafers. In 2006, Siltronic added a second fab under a joint venture (JV) with Samsung Electronics to manufacture 300mm silicon ingots and wafers.

This latest 300mm fab, which is under the JV with Samsung, will be Siltronic's "most advanced wafer facility", the company said in a separate news release. It will produce crystal ingots as well as polished and epitaxial wafers.

"Siltronic will also adopt a high degree of automation at its new fab. This will allow employees to upgrade and upskill to take on higher value-added tasks," Gan told an audience that included Siltronic's chief executive officer Christoph von Plotho. Among the others present at the ceremony were Singapore Economic Development Board managing director Jacqueline Poh and JTC chief executive Tan Boon Khai.

"Moreover, Siltronic's partnerships with the local ecosystem of suppliers, contractors and service providers will also generate additional business opportunities and investments for Singapore," Gan said.

Siltronic said in its release that its investment of around 2 billion euros (S$3.12 billion) until the end of 2024 will play an important role in meeting the growing demand for semiconductors.

Siltronic's new facility - which makes Singapore one of the largest suppliers of high-end silicon substrates in the world - takes the country one step closer towards the goal of being a global business, innovation, and talent hub for advanced manufacturing, said Gan.

He added that the investment will enable Singapore to chip in and help meet the global surge in demand for semiconductor products, and serve to strengthen the local semiconductor ecosystem and the country's overall supply chain resilience.

"In particular, as the only silicon wafer manufacturer in Singapore, Siltronic plays a key role in augmenting this complex semiconductor value chain," he said.

Gan pointed out that these "Made in Tampines" wafers will go into some of the most advanced semiconductors produced by the likes of Intel, Samsung and TSMC. Those products will, in turn, power everything from data centres to energy-efficient mobile and computing devices.

In his speech, Gan said the electronics industry in Singapore is the largest manufacturing sub-sector, contributing nearly 7 per cent of the nation's overall gross domestic product.

Gan spoke of more job opportunities for Singaporeans in the coming years as companies look to hire for positions such as engineers, managers and researchers. The semiconductor industry currently employs over 33,000 people, and the government expects this number to increase by around 1,700 within the next 5 years.

"We are committed to ensuring that our talent pipelines are robust and will continue to support the needs of the sector in the years to come," said the minister.

KEYWORDS IN THIS ARTICLE

BT is now on Telegram!

For daily updates on weekdays and specially selected content for the weekend. Subscribe to t.me/BizTimes