Construction on 19 new fabs will begin by the end of this year, with 10 more to follow next year.
Semiconductor equipment installation is expected to begin as early as the first half of 2022.
29 fabs expected to produce 2.6 million 200mm wafers per month


The Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI) announced on the 23rd in its ‘World Fab Forecast’ report that 19 new fabs will begin construction by the end of this year to meet the rapidly increasing demand for semiconductors, and that 10 more fabs will begin construction in 2022.

“The equipment investment for the 29 new fabs to address the global chip shortage will exceed $140 billion over the next few years,” said Ajit Manocha, CEO of SEMI. “In the medium to long term, the expansion of production capacity at fabs around the world will meet the growing demand for semiconductors driven by new applications such as autonomous vehicles, AI, HPC, and 5G/6G communications.”

By 2022, eight fabs are scheduled to commence construction in China and Taiwan, six in North America, three in Europe and the Middle East, and two each in Japan and Korea. Fifteen fabs producing 300mm wafers are scheduled to commence construction in 2021, and seven in 2022. The remaining seven fabs will produce 100mm, 150mm, and 200mm wafers. The total production capacity of the fab, which is scheduled to begin construction by 2022, is expected to reach 2.6 million 200mm wafers per month.

Of the 29 fabs scheduled to begin construction between 2021 and 2022, 15 are foundry fabs, with a monthly production capacity of 30,000 to 220,000 200mm wafers. Four memory fabs are also planned, with a monthly production capacity of 100,000 to 400,000 200mm wafers.

Since it typically takes two years from groundbreaking to semiconductor equipment installation, the majority of fabs starting construction this year are not expected to begin installing semiconductor equipment until 2023. However, some fabs are expected to begin installing semiconductor equipment as early as the first half of next year.

Ten fabs are expected to break ground in 2022, but this number could increase depending on semiconductor manufacturers' decisions. Details on the production volume, products, and technologies of the upcoming fabs can be found in the SEMI Fab Outlook report.