INTC Intel Corporation

   By Mauro Orru 
 

Intel Corp. set out plans to build a new semiconductor assembly and test facility in Poland for an investment of up to $4.6 billion, expanding in Europe in a move the company says will help meet growing demand in coming years.

The chip maker said Friday that design and planning for the new facility would begin immediately, with construction starting once approved by the European Commission, the European Union's executive arm. The new facility near Wroclaw will create some 2,000 Intel jobs and thousands more across the supply chain, Intel said.

Intel Chief Executive Pat Gelsinger said Poland is very cost-competitive compared with other manufacturing locations. The group counts 30 years of operations in Poland, which hosts its largest research and development facility in Europe with nearly 4,000 workers.

Intel already has a chip factory in Leixlip, Ireland, and has planned a similar plant in Magdeburg, Germany. The new facility in Poland will work closely with the other manufacturing hubs, adding to cost efficiencies in the European semiconductor supply chain, the company said.

The new Polish factory will receive wafers from so-called wafer fabrication facilities, such as those in Ireland and Germany, to cut them into individual chips, assemble and test them for performance before shipping to customers. The plant will help meet demand for assembly and test capacity that Intel is expecting by 2027.

Supply-chain snags during the Covid-19 pandemic helped spur governments in the U.S. and Europe to set aside funding to subsidize local chip production that had largely migrated to Asia.

The U.S. last year passed the Chips Act to provide subsidies and support for research and development to increase domestic production, while the European Union also introduced similar legislation. U.S. and European Union officials agreed to work closely to strengthen semiconductor supply chains, including sharing information about their respective programs to provide subsidies and promote domestic chip production.

"We're grateful for the support from Poland as we work to grow the local semiconductor ecosystem and contribute to the EU's goal of creating a more resilient and sustainable semiconductor supply chain," Gelsinger said.

Write to Mauro Orru at mauro.orru@wsj.com; @MauroOrru94

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 16, 2023 06:18 ET (10:18 GMT)

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