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AT&S invests millions in Leoben
AT&S is planning to invest up to EUR 120 million in a technology upgrade over a period of four years. The aim is to create 200 additional jobs by 2023.
Over a period of four years, up to EUR 120 million will be invested in the location in Leoben-Hinterberg, of which about EUR 20 million will be dedicated to R&D and the remainder will be invested into machines and processes. Up to 25 percent of the investments will be funded by the EU programme “IPCEI on Microelectronics”.
In a first step, approximately EUR 44 million will be invested by February 2021.
“IC substrates have been the central element of our corporate strategy for several years,” says AT&S CEO Andreas Gerstenmayer. “IC substrates are connecting elements between the printed circuit board and the chip; they ‘translate’ the nanostructures of the chip to the micrometre structures of a printed circuit board.”
“The innovative technologies of the cores produced in Leoben, together with other innovations at our Chongqing site, enable a leap in performance of the processor systems. This allows us, for example, to reduce the energy consumption in the package and to massively increase data transmission speed,” says AT&S COO Heinz Moitzi.
With this investment, the production capacity for IC cores can be increased by 50 percent. The facility at Leoben-Hinterberg currently produces 225,000 panels per year. After the technology upgrade, the production capacity will increase to nearly 340,000 panels. “Neither our plants in China nor in Austria would exist if our experts did not work together perfectly and pool their know-how across borders”, says CEO Andreas Gerstenmayer.
The technology upgrade will be carried out as part of the IPCEI on Microelectronics project, which was initiated by the EU and adopted by the Austrian Council of Ministers on 8 July. AT&S is one of three Austrian companies that can expect additional funding as part of the IPCEI-Microelectronics project in autumn. IPCEI (Important Projects of Common European Interest) strengthens and enables the support of investments in strategically important key technologies within the EU in global competition. Overall, 29 companies in Europe are supported with a total of EUR 150 million.
