TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — U.S.-based semiconductor material supplier Entegris (英特格) announced Sunday (Dec. 20) plans to increase its presence in Taiwan with an investment of US$200 million over the next three to five years.

The leading provider of advanced materials said in a press release that the construction of a new plant in Kaohsiung will begin in early 2021, and it will be slated for operations the same year. The 27,000 square-meter facility will be used to develop and create products critical to chipmakers, including filters for microcontamination control, gas delivery systems, and advanced chemistries.

Bertrand Loy, president and CEO of Entegris, said that the increased manufacturing capacity will allow the company to better respond to the needs of its customers in Taiwan. The move also serves to bolster supply security for its clients in the region while supplementing its operations in Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, and China.

Entegris has eyed recruiting an additional 200 workers with engineering and manufacturing backgrounds to its headcount in Taiwan, which currently stands at 300. Meanwhile, on its Hsinchu campus, the company plans to expand its Taiwan Technology Center for Research and Development (TTC), which it uses to work out solutions for its customers in the semiconductor industry.

Industry observers believe Entegris’ ramped-up investment in southern Taiwan is aimed primarily at better meeting the needs of its major client, the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC). The Entegris facility will be located near TSMC’s production base in Tainan, the center of its 5 nm and 3 nm process capacity, reported CNA.