Cabot Microelectronics breaks ground on construction of South Korea manufacturing and R&D center

AURORA, USA: Cabot Microelectronics Corp., a leading supplier of chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) polishing slurries and a growing CMP pad supplier to the semiconductor industry, has broken ground on the construction of its planned South Korea manufacturing and research and development center.

The new 56,000 square foot (5,213 square meter) facility will be located in the Gyeonggi Province, approximately 55 kilometers south of Seoul, and in close proximity to the company’s customers. The center is expected to be completed by the end of calendar 2011, at a cost of approximately $12 million, and is primarily intended to provide manufacturing and research and development capabilities to service the company’s advanced memory customers in South Korea.

Initially, the facility is expected to primarily support certain advanced dielectrics slurry products, and additional CMP consumable products may be added in the future. South Korea represents the world’s second largest market for CMP consumables.