Project Bulletin: August 29, 2023

Infineon Technologies’ investment reaches new heights compared to its original investment announcement in February 2022.

Rendering courtesy of Infineon

If you thought semiconductor investments would slow anytime soon globally, you would be wrong. While targeted investments seem to gear toward 300-millimeter chip productions, Infineon Technologies AG is making moves to expand its Malaysia site into the world’s largest 200-millimeter SiC Power Fab. The company announced this month its plans to invest $5.4 billion over the next five years for the buildout of the expansion in Malaysia’s state of Kedah. This massive investment comes on the heels of customer commitments from six global OEMs and companies such as Ford, SAIC and Chery in the automotive sector and several renewable energy customers. “The market for silicon carbide shows accelerating growth, not only in automotive but also in a broad range of industrial applications such as solar, energy storage and high-power EV charging. With the Kulim expansion, we will secure our leadership position in this market,” said Infineon Technologies CEO Jochen Hanebeck. “With the industry’s leading scale and a unique cost position, we are leveraging our competitive position of best-in-class SiC trench technology, the broadest package portfolio and unrivaled application understanding. These factors are the areas of differentiation and success in the industry.” This project aims to keep in line with sustainability goals in the country, as decarbonization goals look to reach net zero by 2050.

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ARCALIS JV Partner Arcturus Therapeutics is based in San Diego, California.

Photo courtesy of Arcturus Technologies

ARCALIS, a joint venture between California-based biotechnology company Arcturus and Japan-based pharmaceutical company Axcelead, will soon develop mRNA vaccines and therapeutics in Japan’s Minamisōma City, located an hour southeast of Fukushima. In doing so, the JV recently received two grants from the Japanese government, totaling $115 million, for the construction of the facility and production equipment. The facility will cover production of mRNA drug substance to bulk nanoparticle-formulated drug product in line with current Good Manufacturing Practices. In addition to this project news Arcturus announced that its LUNAR-FLU program has reached a $17.5 million milestone toward program development from pharmaceutical corporation CSL Seqirus. Its STARR® mRNA vaccines, as part of program development, will be manufactured at the site. “We are pleased with the progress of the LUNAR-FLU program with CSL Seqirus, our exclusive global licensee for the development of novel mRNA vaccines, and the significant role that Arcturus is playing in the development activities,” said Arcturus Therapeutics President and CEO Joseph Payne. “The LUNAR-FLU program could represent a major advance in vaccination efforts against flu, potentially providing higher levels of efficacy and greater durability compared to current flu vaccine approaches. We look forward to advancing this promising program.”

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Chungju, South Korea, is adjacent to the country’s largest lake, Chungjuho Lake, formed after the construction of Chungju Dam.

Photo: Getty Images

As of today, China continues to lead the globe in the development of rare earth metals. Of the 300,000 metric tons (MT) produced around the world, China contributes 210,000 MT of domestic output. Supply chain resiliency remains top of mind for the country, leading to pinpointed investments to distribute these materials for battery production. In August 2023, it was announced that not one, but two battery materials plants will soon call the North Chungcheong province’s city of Chungju, South Korea, home within the next few years. Of the combined $362 million investment made by China-based Ningbo Ronbay New Energy Technology, approximately $273.2 million will be used to construct a nickel ternary cathodes plant. This plant will work to produce 40,000 tons of annual output. Meanwhile, the remaining $87.9 million will focus on a lithium ferromanganese phosphate cathodes facility with an annual output of 20,000 tons. When it came to site selection for this project, South Korea was strategic for helping the company connect to markets in Europe, Japan and the United States, in addition to the country’s lack of export tariffs to U.S. and European markets.

Reports compiled and written by Alexis Elmore