Infineon expands in Portugal creating 500 jobs
Semiconductor manufacturer Infineon Technologies is expanding its existing memory chip assembly and test (back-end) facility. The company is investing a total of e230m in the second module. Work on expanding the facility kicked off in fall 2003 and full capacity will be reached by mid-2006. It is planned to create about 500 new jobs in the process, increasing the workforce in Porto to around 1,500. The new module was formally opened on June 16, 2004, in the presence of Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Manuel Durao Barroso and the first products are already rolling off the production line in the new manufacturing facility. The need to expand assembly and testing capacities arose because Infineon is steadily expanding its front-end capacities, with the successful ramp-up of the 300mm fab in Dresden, Germany, and the planned start up of the 300mm production module in Richmond, USA, as well as enlarging its product portfolio. Up to 600 million chips per year are planned as the maximum capacity when the new module in Porto is completed, which means that current capacity will be more than doubled as a result of the expansion. The first module has around 5,000m2 of cleanroom area and the second about 7,000m2, making it as large as a football pitch. Dr. Michael Majerus, chief financial officer of the Memory Products Group, said: "When we have reached full capacity in Porto, about 30 to 40% of our global memory chip production will be assembled and tested here." Building work on the second module began in fall 2003 and the ready-for-equipment milestone was reached in April 2004. Volume production got going with the production of 256-Mbit devices in BGA packages. Maximum capacity is scheduled to be reached in mid-2006. The memory chip assembly and test plant was founded in 1996 in Vila do Conde, near Porto. Around 1,000 people are currently employed at the facility. Initial investment in the existing first module amounted to e330m, of which e140m is being used to modernise the plant between mid-2000 and mid-2003. Together with the e230m for the expansion of the site, Infineon has invested a total of e560m at the Porto location. Tel: +49 89 234 22404 ralph.heinrich@infineon.com