TSMC still in talks on possible German plant, no decision before August at earliest -exec

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) -Taiwanese chipmaker TSMC is still in talks about a possible plant in Germany but there will be no decision before August at the earliest, a company executive said on Tuesday.

"I don't want to get into the politics side of the thing, but I do think that there is a need for us to provide our customers with a diverse supply," Kevin Zhang, senior vice president of business development, told reporters, adding that Europe is a "very significant geography given the customer base ... (and) the demand".

TSMC, the world's largest contract chipmaker, has been in talks with the German state of Saxony since 2021 over the possibility of building a fabrication plant, or "fab," in Dresden, which would be its first European facility.

Zhang, speaking at a company event in Amsterdam, did not confirm the size of a possible subsidy or cost of the potential project, or which other companies might participate.

"If we do build a fab in Dresden, I think likely we'll start the 28-nanometre generation based on MCU," he said, referring to an established type of computer chip widely used in cars and other devices.

"So far lots of good progress has been made, we have great support from local government, as well as the EU government, but we're going through our internal review and approval process," he said.

The European Union last month agreed the EU Chips Act, a 43 billion euro ($47.33 billion) subsidy plan to double its chipmaking capacity by 2030 in an attempt to catch up with Asia and the United States.

A TSMC spokesperson said that while the company usually owns 100% of its fabs, it might work with partners at a European fab.

A spokesperson for the German economy ministry confirmed that talks with TSMC were ongoing but did not provide details.

Earlier this month Bloomberg reported that TSMC was in talks to invest 10 billion euros in the proposed Dresden fab with partners.

($1 = 0.9084 euros)

($1 = 0.9084 euros)

(Reporting by Toby Sterling, Marine Strauss, Charlotte Van Campenhout, additional reporting by Rachel More in Berlin; editing by Louise Heavens, Jason Neely and Susan Fenton)