Rising energy costs hit the UK chip industry

“Energy costs are the real crux of semiconductor manufacturing in the UK. We have been lobbying Government continuously on this. We need to do something about it if we want to retain manufacturing here", John Moor, director of marketing at the UK's National Microelectronics Institute said in a statement. Atmel's semiconductor fab in North Tyneside is up for sale but Atmel could face some problems with finding a buyer for the fab. Energy prices have risen so much that running semiconductor manufacturing in UK has become very costly. However Atmel is optimistic about finding a buyer for the site and do not want to comment what will happen with the site if the company won't find a buyer. “This [North Tyneside] is a fully operational site and it is being sold as an ongoing entity," said a company spokesman.