from the ground Up

by Jessica Cheam, The Straits Times, Nov 8 2008

French giant sets up cutting-edge plant; it’ll be firm’s hub for Asia
FRENCH wafer maker Soitec opened a $700 million plant in Pasir Ris yesterday, defying the gloom that has descended on the electronics industry.
The 2.7ha facility is Soitec’s first outside France and will serve as the company’s hub for Asia.
It will also be Singapore’s first plant producing silicon-on-insulator (SOI) – a new silicon generation that boosts chip speed by 30 per cent while slashing energy consumption by half.
The cutting-edge wafers represent the firm’s strength in innovation, said Soitec president and chief executive Andre-Jacques Auberton-Herve.
“Leaders always invest during downturns… although next year will be tough, we know how to handle downcycles,” he said yesterday.
“We will see, in 2009, acceleration in innovation to bring new products faster… to lead a new wave of growth and prepare for the upturn.”
Soitec is a sector heavyweight with an 80 per cent market share for SOI wafers.
Despite high labour and manufacturing costs in Singapore, Mr Auberton-Herve said the presence of semi-conductor firms and highly skilled labour made the location “very attractive”.
The facility is operating at only 10 per cent of capacity with 100 staff, 90 of whom are Singaporeans. There will be about 500 staff when the plant is running at full capacity, producing one million 300mm SOI wafers a year.
Trade and Industry Minister Lim Hng Kiang said at the opening ceremony that while there is “some uncertainty in the short-term demand” of the industry, the long-term outlook remains positive.
“We should continue to invest in development so that we are well-positioned for the eventual upturn.”
Mr Lim said Soitec’s presence “testifies to our competitiveness in the global semi-conductor industry”.
He pointed out that Singapore has developed a vibrant semi-conductor landscape over 40 years with a strategy to help local plants expand, promote research and development and build an eco-system of companies that supports the industry.
Its output hit $36 billion last year – accounting for 52 per cent of Singapore’s total electronics output, he added.
Soitec’s plant is also the latest in a series of key manufacturing investments in Singapore.
Last Thursday, oil and gas services giant Halliburton opened a US$50 million (S$74 million) plant in Jurong which will employ about 400 people when the manufacturing and technology centre becomes fully operational at the end of next year.
Norwegian energy giant Renewable Energy Corporation broke ground on the world’s largest solar energy plant at Tuas last Friday. The $3 billion phase 1 facility is on target to begin operations in early 2010 and will employ 1,300 people.
Separately, local recycling firm Geocycle Singapore recently opened a US$6 million plant at Sungei Kadut. The plant will recycle used copper slag to make concrete.
Soitec Singapore chief executive Emmanuel Arene remains bullish on the firm’s expansion into Asia, adding that more than 6ha of land have been reserved for future manufacturing lines, which Soitec will scale up according to future demand.
“We are committed for the long term in Singapore,” he said.