US chip packaging firm Amkor closes its Shanghai plant for a week amid global market downturn
- Amkor currently operates a factory employing about 5,300 people in Shanghai’s Waigaoqiao Free Trade Zone
- The move comes after global semiconductor sales declined 14.7 per cent year on year to US$130.2 billion in the fourth quarter
Amkor Technology, the world’s second-largest semiconductor packaging and test services provider, plans to close its Shanghai plant for a week in a fresh sign of a market downturn.
The Nasdaq-listed company has told employees at its production unit to take leave from February 27 to March 6, and office staff will also have leave from February 27 to March 3, according to an internal notice issued by the company.
The decision was made to reduce costs as the company has been “affected by the overall semiconductor environment and does not have sufficient orders”, according to the notice.
Amkor said in a statement early Saturday that it has no plans to relocate its facilities in China, nor cut its workforce.
Amkor currently operates a factory covering an area of 170,000 square meters and employs about 5,300 people in Shanghai’s Waigaoqiao Free Trade Zone.
Headquartered in Arizona, Amkor focuses on designing and developing a number of package formats and technologies and testing services, which require the company to stay close to clients.
Its Shanghai factory is one of 20 production facilities and research centres in eight countries, including mainland China, Japan, Taiwan, the Philippines, Malaysia and Portugal. The company was listed on Nasdaq in 1998.
