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Politics : Formerly About Applied Materials -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: StanX Long who wrote (61003)	2/27/2002 2:20:57 AM
From: StanX Long	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 70976

Global Chip Line Running Rate Increases for 1st Time in 18 MonthsThe global semiconductor processing facility running rate has increased for the first time in nearly 18 months, a Japanese industry newspaper reported yesterday. -- Korea Times, 2/26/2002 e-insite.net According to the report, the factory running rate of semiconductor fabrication plants was tallied at 65.9 percent in the fourth quarter of last year, down 26.9 percentage points from the same quarter of the previous year. However, this was an improvement of 1.7 percentage points over the previous month, the first increase since the third quarter of 2000, the report said. ''The increase in the running rate supports the widespread belief that the semiconductor market has bottomed out and it quickly headed towards a recovery,'' it said. Commenting on the increase, South Korean industry experts said it is important to watch the trend since history shows that a sharp change in the supply situation usually leads to another slump. ''The most recent increase is small in volume and reflects the reduction in inventory at semiconductor companies. But any significant expansion in production will certainly result in oversupply, as had been the case last year,'' one analyst said.