Electronics: new investments in Asia

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Asia is one of Air Liquide’s Electronics key growth drivers, with 80% of the upcoming Fabs being commissioned in this region and 100% of the flat panel manufacturing industry.

Since the beginning of the year, Air Liquide Electronics has achieved several major successes in China, Vietnam and Singapore, for a total investment of € 50 million.

In China, Air Liquide has signed a 15 year contract with SMIC (Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation, the largest and most advanced foundry in China) to supply on-site bulk carrier gases to their future Fab in the Wuhan East Lake high tech development zone. The project is mainly sponsored by the Wuhan Government.

In Singapore, Singapore Oxygen Air Liquide Pte Ltd (SOXAL) will provide another Total Gas and Chemical Management (TGCM) operations, starting this September 2007, for the new 300-mm fab of the world first silicon-on-insulator (SOI) manufacturer Soitec, located at Pasir Wafer Fab Park, on the eastern part of the island. SOXAL will also supply a new leading American manufacturer of memory devices in 2008 with a complete range of carrier gases, including ultra-pure nitrogen, oxygen, argon, helium and hydrogen.

In Vietnam, in 2009, Air Liquide Electronics will also supply carrier gases to a new backend facility of one of the world’s leading semiconductor manufacturer in the southern region. Vietnam is emerging as a new location for semiconductors investments.

Christophe Fontaine, Vice-President Electronics, Air Liquide Group, declared: “We are very proud to provide and support our customers on a worldwide basis thanks to the diversity and the coverage of our offer. These latest successes have allowed Air Liquide to strengthen its leadership in this region and to increase our geographical presence in Asia.”

SMIC (NYSE: SMI; SEHK: 981) is one of the leading semiconductor foundries in the world, providing integrated circuit (IC) manufacturing service at 0.35m to 90nm and finer line technologies. Headquartered in Shanghai, China, SMIC operates three 200mm fabs in Shanghai and one in Tianjin, and one 300mm fab in Beijing -- the first of its kind in mainland China. SMIC has customer service and marketing offices in the U.S., Italy, and Japan, as well as a representative office in Hong Kong.