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

To: Gottfried who wrote (26637)	11/23/1998 6:00:00 PM
From: Proud_Infidel	Respond to of 70976

11-23-98 Samsung to Close Chip Plant in Portugal Samsung Electronics Co. said yesterday it will shut down its semiconductor plant in Portugal next March, which is jointly run with Texas Instruments Inc. (TI) of the United States. The decision to close the plant will involve massive layoffs in Portugal and comes in the wake of the collapse in the global chip market. ''We have agreed with the U.S. firm to close the joint-venture plant under pressure from falling chip prices in the international market as well as the Asian crisis,'' a Samsung Electronics official said. TI has been producing integrated circuits at the plant since 1973. The company recently sold its memory chip business to Micron Technology. Samsung Electronics entered into the joint venture in 1994 by taking over a 38-percent stake for $37 million and began IC assembly outside Korea for the first time. The planned shutdown, however, is facing demands for compensation from the Portuguese government for the breach of a $137-million investment contract that expires in 2004, as well as the loss of 750 jobs. Samsung said Portugal is also demanding restitution for grants from the Lisbon government and EU Commission, including substantial tax benefits, to support the project. The world's largest memory chip maker estimated the penalties for the breach of the contract would amount to $54 million. ''We still consider ourselves ahead because we acquired a great deal of chip production technology from TI,'' said a Samsung Electronics spokesman. (NIS)