Samsung Electronics' Countdown to Groundbreaking at US Taylor Plant... Accelerating Infrastructure Expansion

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[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Hye-young] Samsung Electronics has entered the countdown to groundbreaking for its new semiconductor plant being constructed in Taylor, Texas, USA. Since last year, Taylor has shown swift progress by confirming various tax benefits for Samsung Electronics, and this year has begun full-scale infrastructure development, accelerating the pace. As a result, Samsung Electronics' goal of dominating the system semiconductor market has gained further momentum.

According to industry sources and the Taylor city government on the 3rd, the city is currently undergoing procedures to expand and reinforce water, electricity, and fire-related infrastructure within the city. This measure takes into account Samsung Electronics' semiconductor foundry plant, which will be built on approximately 1.5 million pyeong of land in Taylor.

To this end, the city council has been conducting detailed discussions since last month regarding budget allocation and vendor selection for improvements and expansions of the water and power systems. Considering the establishment and future operation of Samsung Electronics' plant, expanding essential infrastructure such as water and electricity is absolutely necessary.

At the same time, fire-related facilities and personnel expansion are also underway in consideration of Samsung Electronics' plant expansion. Taylor believes that phased reinforcement of current fire personnel and facilities is necessary to ensure smooth operation and support of the semiconductor plant.

At the city council agenda meeting held on the 27th of last month (local time), the city government described the infrastructure expansion as "a master plan that must be carried out to establish Samsung Electronics' plant and for further growth of the local community."

The city plans to proceed with vendor selection and related procedures starting this month after detailed discussions with Samsung Electronics regarding the scale and scope of infrastructure expansion. Water facility upgrades are expected in the first half of next year, while fire-related infrastructure will be initially expanded within this year and continuously increased thereafter. The groundbreaking of Samsung Electronics' plant is expected to create approximately 2,000 to 3,000 direct and indirect jobs locally.

Prior to this, on the 13th of last month, the city council approved an ordinance to consolidate the land for Samsung's new semiconductor plant site and include it within the city boundaries. The land consolidation and zoning change were requested by Samsung Electronics to the city in early December last year, and the city council passed the ordinance in just over a month, signaling the start of construction.

On November 24 last year, when Samsung Electronics announced that it had finally selected Taylor City, Texas, as the site for its new foundry semiconductor production line in the United States, Texas Governor Greg Abbott and then Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Kim Ki-nam held a press conference. (Photo by Samsung Electronics) [Image source=Yonhap News]

Having surpassed Intel last year to become the global number one in semiconductors, Samsung Electronics plans to expand the 'super-gap' with Taiwan's TSMC by establishing a system semiconductor base in Taylor. The Taylor plant is scheduled to begin construction in the first half of this year and start operations in the second half of 2024. Along with the Pyeongtaek Line 3 in Gyeonggi Province, it is expected to play a key role in achieving the 'System Semiconductor Vision 2030.'

Samsung Electronics' decision to invest a record $17 billion (approximately 20 trillion KRW) in the US is part of its strategy to become number one globally not only in memory but also in the system semiconductor sector. The new line will apply advanced foundry processes to produce cutting-edge system semiconductors for various fields such as 5G, high-performance computing (HPC), and artificial intelligence (AI).

Samsung Electronics is expected to continue aggressive investments this year, including the construction of the Taylor plant. Especially as Intel and TSMC, which are competing with Samsung Electronics for global semiconductor dominance, have announced large-scale investment plans in foundry processes, an intense battle is anticipated over the next five years.

Intel, which has declared its re-entry into the foundry market, announced plans to invest up to $100 billion (approximately 120 trillion KRW) in mega-fab construction, while TSMC also declared it will make a record investment of $44 billion (approximately 52 trillion KRW) this year. Although Samsung Electronics has not specified the exact scale, the industry expects it to execute investments exceeding 70 trillion KRW this year, including facility investments such as expanding advanced processes based on extreme ultraviolet (EUV) technology and research and development (R&D).

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.