AMD confirms 300mm fab in Dresden, Germany

Posted on Thursday, November 20 2003 @ 16:54 CET by Thomas De Maesschalck
AMD confirmed today that they have chosen Dresden, Germany for the location of a new 300 millimeter manufacturing fab. This new fab named AMD Fab 36 is going to build near AMD his Fab 30 (which you can see on the photo . AMD expects that the new Fab 36 is going to be ready for volume production in 2006. It will offer work to approximately 1,000 employees of which most will be high skilled engineers and technicians.

  “Positive customer response and increasing momentum for our AMD64 processors make it clear that the time is right to expand our manufacturing capacity in order to effectively meet future demand,” said Hector Ruiz, president and CEO at AMD. “Our aggressive push into the enterprise computing market continues to gain traction, as evidenced by Sun’s recent adoption of the AMD Opteron™ processor and the growing success of server and workstation solutions from IBM, Fujitsu Siemens and others.”

AMD Fab 36 will produce future generations of AMD products using the third-generation of AMD’s patented automated manufacturing capabilities, known as Automated Precision Manufacturing (APM 3.0).

“The world-class employee talent in Dresden and the superiority of AMD’s advanced fab automation technologies will allow us to build on the success of AMD Fab 30 and help make AMD Fab 36 a leading-edge 300 mm facility,” said Gary Heerssen, senior executive for Corporate Manufacturing at AMD.

“AMD’s investment in Dresden is one of the largest in East Germany since unification in 1990,” said Minister President of the Free State of Saxony Professor Georg Milbradt. “With the AMD Fab 36 facility, Saxony will be established among the world’s top microelectronic centers. This is an incredible ascent in just a few years, and it would not have been possible without the highly motivated and qualified employees in the region. They have more than met the high expectations placed on them, and by doing so, they placed Saxony at the top in a globally competitive environment.”

“Innovation is the basis of growth and employment, particularly in a country like Germany,” said Germany’s Federal Minister of Education and Research Edelgard Bulmahn. “We want to trigger a new dynamic with technological innovations that create jobs and secure Germany’s future. The new factory in Saxony will contribute substantially to such dynamic growth.” Minister Bulmahn added that her Ministry’s funding of semiconductor projects has contributed to the creation of 11,000 high-quality jobs in the Dresden region alone.

“By building in Dresden, we are able to leverage the outstanding capabilities of our existing AMD Fab 30 and gain access to the most substantial government-backed financial incentives package available to us,” said Bob Rivet, chief financial officer at AMD. “We expect AMD Fab 36 will cost approximately US$2.4 billion over the next four years. We have arranged external financing and government support of approximately $1.5 billion during that period. We believe AMD Fab 36 offers the best solution for meeting future customer demand while advancing long-term shareholder value.”

The external financing is expected to include up to approximately $700 million in loans from a consortium of banks, including an 80 percent residual guarantee from Germany and Saxony, approximately $500 million in anticipated grants and allowances from the Germany and Saxonian governments (pending European Union Commission approval), and up to approximately $320 million in equity funding from Saxony and a group of European investors led by M+W Zander. The balance of the financing will be provided by AMD and other potential partners.



About the Author

Thomas De Maesschalck

Thomas has been messing with computer since early childhood and firmly believes the Internet is the best thing since sliced bread. Enjoys playing with new tech, is fascinated by science, and passionate about financial markets. When not behind a computer, he can be found with running shoes on or lifting heavy weights in the weight room.



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