TSMC Drops Plan for Chip Site After Reports of Local Protest

Jane Lanhee Lee
Tue, October 17, 2023 


(Bloomberg) -- Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. has dropped plans to build an advanced chip plant in the island’s north, a pullback that comes after reports of growing local opposition to the move.

TSMC had explored the Longtan Science Park in Taoyuan as a potential site. But the factory would have been built on land that the government is acquiring to expand the park, which the local community voiced strong opposition to, media including the Central News Agency reported this week. TSMC won’t proceed with the fab after evaluating current conditions, the company said, without giving a reason.

The protests are aimed at a third-phase expansion of Longtan, one of the island’s premier industrial parks and home for years to TSMC and other major tech names. Residents complain that the government is acquiring land in the vicinity below market price, and are trying to stall the process, CNA and other outlets cited officials and people in the area as saying.

Taiwan’s largest company invests heavily to secure its lead in chipmaking capacity and technology, spending upwards of $30 billion each year on new equipment and facilities. Local media reported the plan was to build a next-generation 2-nanometer plant at the site. The company has two fabs in Taiwan for 2nm process technology under construction, one of them in Hsinchu where it already operates a major production facility.

Shares in TSMC, which will outline its longer-term spending plans when it unveils earnings Thursday, ended Tuesday 1.1% higher.

Beside expanding domestically, the world’s leading chipmaker is building two chip fabs in Arizona at a cost of roughly $40 billion, with help from US subsidies. It’s also setting up a campus in Japan’s Kumamoto in partnership with Sony Group Corp.

(Updates with details of the complaints from the third paragraph)

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