TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) is considering a second facility in Japan to produce mature processes but is having difficulties finding enough land for the project.
TSMC is currently building its first Japanese fab in the town of Kikuyo, Kumamoto prefecture, according to Nikkei. TSMC Chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) said last week at its annual shareholders meeting that Kumamoto would be an ideal location for a second Japanese fab, but that it had not yet secured enough land for the plant.
According to Japanese law, development is limited in “urbanization control areas” like forests, while converting land designated for agriculture is usually banned. The Nikkei report noted that Kumamoto is one of the country’s top food-producing regions, and that much of Kikuyo and the surrounding areas are ideal farmland that would be difficult to develop.
In April, officials from the Taiwan Electronic Equipment Industry Association brought up the land issue with Kikuyo Mayor Yoshimoto Takatoshi during a visit, per Nikkei. Around 85% of Kikuyo falls under urbanization control areas, thus limiting the number of suppliers that can set up close to the TSMC fab.
Local governments are now trying to secure more land. Kumamoto City estimated that 101 hectares are needed for industrial development and plans to designate around 20 hectares at four different locations, with land development to be finished as soon as fiscal 2025, Nikkei noted. Ozu, a town next to Kikuyo, wants to begin parceling out a 10-hectare industrial park in fiscal 2027, with hopes it will be expanded to as large as 25 hectares, according to Nikkei.
Meanwhile, the prefectural government intends to set up two 25-hectare industrial parks in the area that would cost around US$50 million (NT$1.54 billion) by fiscal 2026, the report said.
TSMC’s first Japanese fab is expected to be ready for commercial production in December 2024. It will have two production lines, one that makes 12 and 16 nm chips, and one that produces 22 and 28 nm semiconductors. It will have a monthly capacity of 55,000 12-inch wafers.