THINKING AHEAD: Chip production is likely to see an annual rise of 8 to 12 percent this year, requiring more of the gases used in their manufacture, the company said

Taipei Times
Date: Sep 10, 2018
By: Lisa Wang  /  Staff reporter

Linde AG, the world’s largest supplier of industrial gases, plans to launch new gas separation facilities and gas distribution systems in Tainan next year to meet rising demand as semiconductor clients churn out more advanced chips from new fabs.

The new gas facilities primarily aim to supply gases to local memorychip makers and foundries, which operate cutting-edge fabs at the Southern Taiwan Science Park in Tainan. The science park is less than 10km from Tree Valley Park, where Linde’s new facilities are.

“We do see [customer] demand continuing to grow, so we also expand accordingly,” Jason Chow (周組菴), head of Linde’s local venture, Linde LienHwa Industrial Gases Co (聯華林德), told the Taipei Times on the sidelines of the annual SEMI Taiwan trade show in Taipei on Wednesday last week.

“The latest and biggest investment is in Tainan’s Tree Valley Park, where we are building a big air separation village [facilities] and a distribution system [to deliver gas] through underground networks,” Chow said.    [FULL  STORY]