US to award Amkor up to $400 million for chip packaging plant
26/07/2024 10:00
By David Shepardson
July 26 (Reuters) - The U.S. Commerce Department said on
Friday it plans to award Amkor Technology AMKR.O up to $400
million in government grants to help fund the company's planned
$2 billion advanced semiconductor packaging facility in Arizona.
The plant is set to be the largest of its kind in the U.S.
and when fully operational will package and test millions of
chips for autonomous vehicles, 5G/6G and data centers.
Apple AAPL.O will be its first and biggest customer with
the chips produced at a nearby Taiwanese chipmaker TSMC
2330.TW facility.
Advanced packaging is a high-tech method of placing multiple
chips with a variety of functions in a densely interconnected
"package."
Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said the award would help
meet growing demand for AI chips.
The chips Amkor will package "are foundational to
technologies of the future that will define global economic and
national security for decades to come," she added.
The department also plans to make available $200 million in
government loans for the Amkor project, which is expected to
qualify for a 25% investment tax credit.
The Commerce Department said last year it planned to spend
$3 billion on advanced packaging. Congress in 2022 approved a
$39-billion subsidy program for U.S. semiconductor manufacturing
and related components.
The latest award, like others from the chips subsidy
program, has yet to be finalized and terms could change.
In other awards, TSMC has won $6.6 billion in expected
grants after it said it would expand planned investment by $25
billion to $65 billion and add a third Arizona chips fab by
2030.
Semiconductor packaging provider Absolics, part of the SK
Group 034730.KS , is also due to gain $75 million. SK Hynix
000660.KS , the world's second-largest memory chip maker, plans
to invest nearly $4 billion to build an advanced packaging plant
for AI products in Indiana.
(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)
((David.Shepardson@thomsonreuters.com; 2028988324;))