[News] 12-Inch Wafer Capacity Construction Going Full Steam

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Recently, according to sources from an official platform of Shanghai Construction No.4 (Group), Huahong Group has topped out the main building of FAB9 of the Huahong Manufacturing (Wuxi) project. This is reportedly the second phase project with a total construction area of about 530,000㎡, which is projected to construct a 12-inch characteristic process production line with a monthly capacity of 83,000 wafers.

It can be seen that the 12-inch wafer field is greeted by high enthusiasm. Previously, companies such as Renesas Electronics, PSMC, TSMC, and UMC have all announced plans to build new 12-inch fabs. As for China, as per earlier industry reports, 12-inch fabs scheduled to start production in 2024 include CR Micro, ZenSemi, and CanSemi, all located in Guangdong Province.

• Investment Enthusiasm in 12-Inch Fabs Unabated

On April 11, Renesas officially restarted its previously closed factory in Kofu. It was announced in 2022 that Renesas would invest JPY 90 billion to convert the plant into a 12-inch fab in a bid to meet the increasing demand in the power semiconductor sector.

The fab has a cleanroom with an area of 18,000㎡, and it will start mass production of IGBTs, power MOSFETs, and other power devices in 2025, which is expected to double Renesas’ overall power semiconductor capacity.

On March 13, PSMC and India-based Tata Group held a groundbreaking ceremony for their joint 12-inch fab. The fab comes with a total investment of INR 910 billion (Around USD 11 billion), which is estimated to produce a monthly capacity of 50,000 wafers, covering various mature nodes such as 28nm, 40nm, 55nm, 90nm, and 110nm.

On February 24, TSMC’s Japan Kumamoto fab (JASM) was officially opened, marking TSMC’s first plant (Fab23) in Japan. TrendForce stated that the plant will possess a total capacity of up to 40~50Kwpm in the future, with the process mainly focusing on 22/28nm and a small amount of 12/16nm. This will pave the way for developing the main process of the Kumamoto Fab2 later.

Previously, TSMC had announced that in response to customer demand growth, construction of JASM’s second fab in Japan is planned to commence at the end of 2024 and start operation in late 2027. Media reports stated that TSMC would invest JPY 2 trillion in the second fab in Kumamoto, which will adopt advanced processes of 6nm and 7nm. The monthly total capacity of 12-inch wafers in JASM Kumamoto fab is expected to exceed 100,000 pieces in the future.

In January, it was reported that UMC’s new fab in Singapore is scheduled to complete construction by mid-2024 and start mass production in early 2025. UMC said that to meet the demand for capacity construction, its board of directors approved a capital budget execution proposal of USD 39.8 million. The first phase of the new fab, with a total investment of USD 5 billion, is expected to deliver a monthly capacity of 30,000 wafers, providing 22/28nm processes.

UMC has been operating the 12-inch fab in Singapore for over 20 years. In February 2022, UMC’s board of directors approved the plan to expand a new advanced fab in the Fab12i area in Singapore. At that time, UMC expected the new fab to start mass production in late 2024, but the latest news indicates that the date of mass production will be in early 2025.

• Several Guangdong-Based 12-Inch Fabs Set to Start Production in 2024

According to a local official report from Zengcheng, Guangdong, ZenSemi held a lithography machine introduction ceremony for the project of 12-inch advanced intelligent sensors and characteristic process wafers mass production lines, marking that the project has smoothly entered the debugging and production preparation phase.

It is reported that the first phase of the project covers an area of 370 acres, with a planned investment of CNY 37 billion. It is expected to start production in June 2024, with the first batch of high-yield products scheduled to be completed in late December and delivered to customers.

According to official information from CanSemi, the third phase of CanSemi’s project will establish a 12-inch integrated circuit analog characteristic process production line with a capacity of 40,000 wafers per month. Currently, the first and second phases have been put into production successively, and the company are accelerating the construction of the third phase project, striving to achieve a fixed asset investment of over CNY 4 billion in 2024 and ensure the third phase to complete construction and start production in 2024.

According to the Wechat Account “Binhai Baoan”, Huahong’ 12-inch characteristic process integrated circuit production line project is also expected to start production this year.

It is reported that the first phase of Huahong’ 12-inch power chip production line project has a total investment of CNY  22 billion, with a total construction area of 238,000㎡, and an annual production capacity of 480,000 wafers after completion. The products will mainly be used in automotive electronics, new energy, industrial control, consumer electronics, and other fields.

As per stats from Wechat Account “Global Semiconductor Observation”, there are currently 31 operating 12-inch fabs in China (Inclusive of under-construction 12-inch fixed-capacity fabs), with a total monthly capacity of approximately 1.189 million wafers.

Compared with the planned monthly capacity of 2.17 million wafers, the capacity utilization rate of these fabs is close to 54.48%, indicating significant expansion potential. Considering construction and future planning, it is estimated that China will add 24 new 12-inch fabs in the next five years, with a planned monthly capacity of 2.223 million wafers.

Assuming all planned 12-inch foundries achieve full production, the total monthly capacity of 12-inch wafers in China will exceed 4.14 million wafers in late 2026, representing a 248.19% increase in capacity utilization compared to the present.

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(Photo credit: TSMC)