STMicroelectronics announced the construction in Catania (Sicily) of a new factory dedicated to the large-volume production of 200 mm silicon carbide wafers. On the stock market, the Franco-Italian manufacturer’s shares gained 0.38% to 37.93 euros. The latter is targeting more than $5 billion in annual revenues in silicon carbide in 2030. The company emphasizes that it is “the world’s first fully integrated factory for silicon carbide”.
This material is sought after because of its properties of high thermal conductivity and low thermal expansion, which make it very interesting in the context of the transition to electrification.
A multi-year investment program of 5 billion euros is planned and STMicroelectronics will benefit from 2 billion euros of support from the Italian state under the European Chips Act.
The European Commission authorized this aid because this factory will “strengthen Europe’s security of supply, resilience and digital sovereignty in the field of semiconductor technologies”.
Production is expected to start in 2026 and reach full capacity by 2033, to produce up to 15,000 wafers per week at full capacity.
“Together, the SiC substrate manufacturing unit being built at this same site and this new factory will form ST’s Silicon Carbide Campus, realizing the company’s vision of a fully vertically integrated production facility dedicated to mass production of silicon carbide on a single site”, explains the Franco-Italian group.
“The scale and synergies brought by this project will allow us to innovate further with large-volume production capacity (…),” declared CEO Jean-Marc Chéry.
