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To: Jong Hyun Yoo who wrote (4099)	5/15/2000 10:15:00 AM
From: Proud_Infidel	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 5867

STMicro's new French fab will be its biggest 8-inch facility, processing 7,000 wafers a month Semiconductor Business News (05/15/00, 09:31:23 AM EDT) ROUSSET, France--STMicroelectronics figured it's timing is nearly perfect. With demand for semiconductor booming, the European chip company today formally dedicated the new Rousset8 fab, which will eventually have a total capacity of 7,000 eight-inch wafer per week. When fully equipped, the facility will be STMicroelectronics' largest 200-mm wafer fab with a total planned investment of $1.4 billion, according to company officials. "Following our established policy of flexible investment, we maintained our commitment to this project during the most severe downturn in the history of the semiconductor industry and accelerated the program just before the recent upturn," said Pasquale Pistorio, president and chief executive officer of STMicroelectronics. ". The first logic devices were produced by the new fab in April using the company's 0.25-micron HCMOS-7 technology. Currently, the plant is fabricating about 10 different ICs for data storage, TV set-top boxes and digital consumer products, said STMicroelectronics. In the third quarter, a new flash memory device for cellular phones will be transferred to the fab. In 2001, the company plans to produce new smart card chips with a 0.18-micron process technology. STMicroelectronics said its new Rousset fab uses minienvironment technology to isolate wafers while they are being processed. "Minienvironment technology will be mandatory for the next generation of 12-inch fabs but it has today reached the stage where it offers financial and environmental benefits for 8-inch fabs," said Laurent Bosson, corporate vice president for the company's Central Frontend Manufacturing operation. "The same isolation technology will be deployed in ST's other new 8-inch fabs, currently under construction in Singapore and Italy," Bosson added. To keep up with the market demand and increase its production of leading-edge products, STMicroelectronics has increased capital spending by 63% to around $2.2 billion in 2000 from $1.4 billion in 1999, according to estimates from industry analysts. The company is teamed with Philips Semiconductors to build a $700 million 300-mm pilot line in Crolles, France, near Grenoble (see April 13 story). The new Rousset plant is designed to use 45% less energy than an existing 6-inch wafer fab at the Rousset site, according to STMicroelectronics.