TURIN. Silicon Box, a chip manufacturing company based in Singapore, has chosen Novara as the location for its new maxi-production plant, the first of its kind in Europe. The investment, the company explained when making its desire to invest in Italy official a few months ago, should be around 3.2 billion euros, partly supported by public contributions, and should provide work to around 1,600 people.
The preview comes from sources of Reuters, which specify that there are still two sites in the running, one in Northern Lombardy and one in Veneto. However, people close to the Piedmont Region dossier confirm that the match has already been won by the Novara area. The official announcement should arrive next week, on June 28, when Silicon Box and the Ministry of Business and Made in Italy will hold a press conference to confirm the location of the plant. The Singapore start-up, founded in 2020 on the initiative of the founders of the US chip manufacturer Marwell Technology, will create so-called “chiplets” in Novara, small independently produced semiconductor components that can be assembled like “Legos” to function like a chip traditional. A technology that can be used in various fields, starting from the automotive one where Silicon Box is particularly active.
Government plans
The arrival of the Singaporean giant in Piedmont will be the main project attracted so far by the government as part of the national plan on microelectronics which, thanks to a total budget of 3.3 billion euros, aims to broaden Italy’s production footprint in this strategic sector. The objective of this strategy, Minister Adolfo Urso explained, is to build a supply chain for semiconductors in Europe. A way to reduce dependence on Asian countries but also to accredit the country as an ideal place to land billion-dollar investments by global technological giants.
«Italy is on its way to becoming one of the main producers of chips and semiconductors. 2024 is shaping up to be the year of microelectronics. By the end of the year we plan to exceed the threshold of 10 billion invested in the sector in Italy. We are on the right path” Urso said a few weeks ago when presenting an investment, again in Piedmont, starring another semiconductor company, the German Aixtron.
Even the governor, fresh from re-election, Alberto Cirio, had shown himself optimistic about the possibility of success of the arrival of Silicon Box, technically a start-up but supported by important figures such as Byung Moon Han, former manager of Jcet (Chinese giant specialized in testing and packaging of semiconductors) and by the billionaire spouses Sehat Sutardja and Weili Dai, founders of the American company specialized in storage and semiconductor products Marvell Technology, approximately six billion dollars in turnover and headquarters in Delaware.
From Catania to Novara
The arrival of Silicon Box in Italy represents a second important medal for the government after the announcement at the end of May by STMicroelectronics, an Italian-French giant in the semiconductor field, of the construction of a new plant in Catania for the production in large volumes of 200 mm silicon carbide (SiC) for devices and power modules, as well as for testing and packaging activities.
The goals for the new plant are to start production in 2026 and reach full capacity by 2033, with full production of up to 15,000 wafers per week. STMicroelectronics’ investment in Sicily is expected to be around five billion euros, with financial support of around two billion euros from the Italian state under the Chips Act of the European Union.
