Samsung chip factory in Taylor to receive occupants 'no later than July 1'

Samsung Electronics' chip factory in Taylor, Texas, under construction [SCREEN CAPTURE]

Samsung Electronics' chip factory in Taylor, Texas, will begin operating by July this year, according to a court session in Williamson County, where the plant is located.

Williamson County Judge Bill Gravell said the Samsung's Taylor plant "will begin receiving occupants in their building facility no later than July 1 and that they will begin manufacturing within that time frame."

Gravell visited Korea last week with Taylor City Mayor Brandt Rydell to attend a semiconductor conference where he met executives of Samsung and other businesses.

The judge added that Samsung had begun to "pour the foundation" for the second fabrication plant.

Gravell said the two fabrication units at the site will be a combined 11.4 million square feet.

Samsung Electronics said Thursday its plant in Taylor "is going as planned," without elaborating further.

Samsung Electronics announced in 2022 its plan to invest $17 billion to build a chip fabrication plant in Taylor, Texas, initially to start mass production later this year. The company said the plant will mass-produce chips on 4-nanometer nodes.

However, the plan was delayed recently.

Samsung Electronics President Choi Si-young said last year that mass production would begin in 2025, with a small batch of wafers entering the factory in the second half of this year.

Extended negotiations for subsidies are speculated to be the reason behind the pushed-back schedule.

Samsung Electronics applied for subsidies under the CHIPS Act, which aims to boost chip manufacturing on U.S. soil. Subsidy funding is capped at $39 billion, and Samsung is competing with companies like TSMC and Intel.

The subsidy announcement is expected within the next eight weeks, according to an interview with U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo in Reuters.

BY JIN EUN-SOO [jin.eunsoo@joongang.co.kr]