Asia Tech Wire (July 31) -- TSMC confirmed Tuesday that it will hold a groundbreaking ceremony for its new German plant on August 20th.

According to Nikkei, TSMC Chairman C.C. Wei will lead a delegation and host equipment and material suppliers, customers and government officials on the day.

TSMC announced plans last August to set up a joint venture with Bosch, Infineon and NXP Semiconductors in Dresden, Germany, European Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (ESMC) GmbH.

According to the plan, in the joint venture, TSMC holds 70% of the shares, Bosch, Infineon and NXP each hold 10%.

ESMC's goal is to start building a 12-inch fab in the second half of 2024, which is due to go into production at the end of 2027.

After completion, TSMC's first European plant, with a total investment of more than 10 billion euros, is expected to produce about 40,000 12-inch wafers per month.