BASF taps chip demand

GERMAN chemicals giant BASF’s new plant in Jiaxing will double its annual production capacity of chemicals used in semiconductor processing by the end of this year to meet demand growth, the firm told Shanghai Daily yesterday.

The plant in Zhejiang Province can currently produce 12,000 tons of sulfuric acid, which is used to purify semiconductor wafers, annually.

But the company aims to double output of sulfuric acid to 24,000 tons annually by the end of this year, John Dou, general manager for BASF’s electronics materials business in China, said.

Demand for sulfuric acid used in electronics in China will grow around 12 percent annually in the next decade, higher than in other countries, Dou added.

The strong growth in demand will spur the company to continue to “increase investment in China,” said Boris Jenniches, vice president for BASF’s electronics materials business for Asia Pacific.

“China will take up around half of our global revenue in the electronics sector in years to come,” Jenniches said.

China’s technological standards lag those in the global semiconductor industry and government investment in the industry is estimated to rise to around US$110 billion this year and to US$180 billion in 2019, BASF quoted a report from an international electronics association SEMI. Around US$70 billion was invested in the industry last year.