HSINCHU, Taiwan, Jan 21 (Reuters) - Taiwanese silicon wafer manufacturer GlobalWafers is preparing for the phase two expansion of its plant in the U.S. state of Texas, subject to customer commitments, Chairperson Doris Hsu told reporters on Wednesday.
In May of last year, GlobalWafers said it would invest an additional $4 billion in the United States to meet growing customer demand there, after opening a new $3.5 billion wafer facility in Texas.
The existing plant, GlobalWafers' most advanced fully integrated 300mm (12 inch) silicon wafer facility, is the first of its kind built in the U.S. in more than two decades and is currently the only advanced wafer manufacturing site in the country.
The company has 18 production and operational sites across nine countries. In the United States, it has manufacturing facilities in Texas and Missouri.
Silicon wafers are critical components in chip manufacturing and larger wafers are widely used in advanced chip production as they allow for more chips to be produced per wafer, increasing cost savings.
(Reporting by Wen-Yee Lee; Writing by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)
