June 1, 2010 – Advanced Semiconductor Engineering (ASE) says it has begun construction of a new factory to expand flipchip assembly and copper wirebond leadframe/substrate assembly. Local reports peg the new site in the Nantze Economic Processing Zone of Kaohsiung, Taiwan, at an investment of $460M, and requiring nearly 6000 new workers.

The 11-story, 70,200 sq. m floorspace facility dubbed K12, expected to be completed in Nov. 2011, will incorporate several green concepts, the company claims: energy, material, and water efficiency; environmental protection; waste reduction; and "promotion of a healthy work environment." All told, these efforts will help the company reduce energy consumption by 20%, lower CO2 emissions by 10,000 tons/year, and increase water recycling to 85% and harvest 20,000 gallons/year of rainwater. Upon completion, ASE will apply for K12 to be designated with the EEWH diamond status, Taiwan’s green standard, and "work towards attaining" LEED gold certification from the US.

Meanwhile, ASE says it has purchased a nearby building from WUS Microelectronics, to be renamed plant K15, which will begin manufacturing this July, with a reported $160M investment and 1500 workers.

In comments at the K12 groundbreaking, ASE chairman/CEO Jason Chang was quoted saying that the company’s Kaohsiung are running flat-out, and the new plants will boost output value of the compound by 50% to $3B (of $4B in total overall sales), making it the company’s largest domestic base of operations. Critical to anticipated 50%+ growth this year is government approval to invest in IC assembly operations in mainland China, he noted — for ASE this means shifting lower-end work to plants in Shanghai, Kunshan, and Soochow.