Phoenix Semicon on track with Clark plant expansion

MANILA, Philippines - Phoenix Semiconductor Philippines Corp (PSPC) is on track with the phase 2 expansion of its manufacturing plant within the Clark Freeport Zone.

Expanding the facility would beef up the company’s manufacturing facility for clients other than South Korea’s Samsung.

Samsung, the world’s largest manufacturer of branded semiconductor memory products, has tapped PSPC as its supplier.

The phase 2 expansion project consists of a two stage- plan with the construction of the manufacturing building that will have an initial production footprint of 18,000 square meters, a new 1,000 sq. meter warehouse and a power utility building.

“The commencement of the phase 2 project is a clear testament of the commitment of PSPC and its major shareholder, SFA Semicon Co. Ltd of Korea, to continue with its investments and to expand its

presence in the Philippines,” said PSPC president Byeongchun Lee.

Lee said the company is now in talks with new customers to take up production capacity of the initial phase of the expansion project.

The new facility will also house production capacity for Semicon’s semiconductor assembly and packaging contracts in line with its global manufacturing realignment strategy which plans to see PSPC diversifying into mobile semiconductor products, Lee said.

This is while preserving PSPC’s strong relationship with global leader Samsung Electronics of Korea.

“PSPC is foreseen to be a manufacturing hub of the SFA group in Asia providing state-of-the-art semiconductor assembly services to Samsung and other electronics companies around the world,” Lee said.

The company expects the expansion project to be completed by the end of August this year, after which ramp up of production equipment and ancillary utilities and support facilities is expected to be started immediately in anticipation of incoming production orders.

Pending the finalization of the building’s architectural and engineering plans and the signing of main construction contract, project mobilization and civil and foundation works have been started.

Funding for the expansion comes from proceeds from PSPC’s initial public offering and from retained earnings from past years of operations.

The expansion project was delayed due to the slowdown in the global semiconductor industry but PSPC expressed optimism the global semiconductor industry would continue on its recovery path within the year.

PSPC, one of the country’s top semiconductor manufacturers, shipped out $325 million worth of semiconductors in the first quarter of 2016.