New York Construction Report staff writer
GlobalFoundries has been selected to operate two new semiconductor fabrication plants at its Malta campus under a U.S.-Japan initiative backed by up to US$21 billion in Japanese investment.
The first phase involves approximately US$10 billion for a new 300-millimetre fab, with construction expected to begin later this year and production scheduled to start in 2029. A second facility, supported by another investment of approximately US$10 billion, would add further manufacturing capacity.
GlobalFoundries said the expansion is expected to generate about 27,000 construction and ecosystem jobs and more than 1,000 high-skilled manufacturing jobs in New York’s Capital Region.
The Malta site is already permitted and shovel-ready, allowing construction to proceed using existing infrastructure. Details of a groundbreaking ceremony will be announced separately.
Each fab is expected to add approximately 900,000 wafers of annual U.S. manufacturing capacity when fully operational.
The project builds on GlobalFoundries’ existing Fab 8 operation in Malta, which has been producing semiconductors since 2009. The new facilities are expected to supply chips for automotive, industrial and connected infrastructure applications, including communications systems and data centres.
Under the U.S.-Japan agreement, Japan will provide the funding, while GlobalFoundries will supply the technology and operate the facilities.
Separately, GlobalFoundries has reached an agreement with the U.S. Department of Commerce to reallocate US$955 million from its existing CHIPS and Science Act award to accelerate investments in silicon photonics, silicon-germanium technology and advanced packaging at its Malta facility and its site in Burlington, Vermont.
The investments are intended to expand U.S. manufacturing capacity for technologies used in communications infrastructure and data centres. Under a separate agreement, the Department of Commerce will receive an equity stake of approximately four per cent in GlobalFoundries.
New York’s Green CHIPS program supports semiconductor manufacturing and workforce development in the state.
