Taiwan's UMC says China chip JV to begin production in late 2016
TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwan's United Microelectronics Corp said its joint venture factory in the Chinese province of Fujian will begin production at the end of 2016, as the world's No.3 contract chip maker solidifies expansion plans in the mainland.
"The plan is to see early production by the end of 2016," chief financial officer Chitung Liu said at the company's quarterly results conference call on Wednesday.
He noted that the first $100 million (66 million pounds) in spending into the project was injected "yesterday". UMC has projected its total spending on the project at $1.35 billion over a five-year period.
China is beefing up its domestic semiconductor industry with heavy government support, to allow its domestic firms to better compete in an area in which Taiwan dominates.
UMC had previously announced that it had entered into a joint venture to build the foundry with the local government and Fujian Electronics & Information Group.
Chief competitor Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd has also said it is "seriously considering" expanding production in China.
UMC earlier reported fourth-quarter net profit of T$4.56 billion (96 million pounds), handily beating analyst estimates.
(Reporting by Michael Gold; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)
