Global chip plant usage rises

The global chip plant utilization is increasing but it has been held back below 90 percent for a year now despite increasing demand. The memory makers have increased their capacity and even so much that they have made an excess inventory. Utilisation rate was 89.7 percent in the quarter, up from 87.5 percent in January-March, the Semiconductor International Capacity Statistics (SICAS) group said on Thursday. Global orders for chip gear fell 18 percent from a year ago to $10.22 billion in April-June, which was down 4 percent from January-March, industry group Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International said on Wednesday. Capacity for all integrated circuits rose to 1.99 million silicon wafer starts per week in April-June from 1.89 million per week in the previous quarter and the actual wafer starts, which reflect demand for chips, amounted to 1.78 million a week, compared with 1.65 million the previous quarter.