Hemlock To Win $325 Million US Grant For Michigan Chip Facility
Date
10/21/2024 10:19:11 AM
(MENAFN- Live Mint) Hemlock Semiconductor LLC is in line to win $325 million in US government grants to support an expansion of its Michigan facility, where the company plans to increase manufacturing of a critical chipmaking material.
Hemlock is the only US-based maker of hyper-pure semiconductor-grade polysilicon, a core input for the wafers that are the foundation of modern electronics. The award from the 2022 Chips and Science Act would support construction of a new facility on Hemlock's campus in Saginaw County, Michigan, the US Commerce Department announced on Monday.
That site is in a closely contested area of one of the states that could decide next month's presidential election. President Joe Biden narrowly won the longtime Democratic stronghold in 2020 after Donald Trump's 2016 victory marked the first time Republicans had won the county in decades.
On a call with reporters, Michigan politicians including Governor Gretchen Whitmer and Senator Gary Peters highlighted how Hemlock's investment fits into a broader manufacturing boom in the Great Lakes State, spanning electric vehicles and batteries as well as traditional infrastructure. Hemlock is expected to invest more than $800 million in the project, Whitmer said, creating around 180 manufacturing jobs and 1,000 construction jobs.
Advanced chipmakers like Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. and Intel Corp., each in line for their own federal funding, rely on the silicon that Hemlock produces, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said.“When the world's leading edge artificial intelligence and technology companies buy chips from the chip companies, they're also going to be getting US-made chips, made with US-made polysilicon manufactured in Michigan,” she said.
The Biden administration has allocated more than $36 billion of a total $39 billion in grants from the Chips Act, which aims to bring semiconductor production back to the US after decades of manufacturing moving to Asia. The majority of the money is slated for chip manufacturers, but a handful of preliminary awards have gone toward other parts of the supply chain, including materials.
After Monday's announcement, Hemlock will undergo due diligence before signing a final term sheet, and would then receive portions of its grant tied to specific project milestones. Almost all of the companies that won Chips Act grants are still in the due diligence phase. Last month, officials announced the first - and to date, only - final agreement, and said there is more to come in the weeks and months ahead.
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