(Yicai Global) May 11 -- National Silicon Industry Group announced that the Chinese silicon wafer maker plans to invest EUR388 million (USD408.6 million) building a production plant in Finland to meet surging demand.

NSIG’s Finnish unit Okmetic will be responsible for building the plant in Vantaa, the Shanghai-based company said late yesterday. The new factory will be able to turn out 3.1 million pieces of 200-millimeter semiconductor silicon wafers a year.

To fund the project, NSIG will increase Okmetic’s capital or use shareholder loans up to EUR90 million (USD95 million), the firm said, adding that it will stump up the remaining amount. The plant will go up in two phases, the first costing EUR260 million and the second EUR128 million.

The Vantaa plant will raise NSIG’s production capacity of silicon wafers for high-end sensors, radio frequency chips, and power semiconductors, helping the company boost its market share in the fifth-generation, automotive electronics, and internet of things sectors, it noted.

Global production capacity of 200 mm silicon wafers will increase 17 percent to 6.6 million pieces by 2024 from 2020 to meet growing use in 5G gadgets, car electronics, and IoT devices, the company said, citing data from Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International.

In 2016, NSIG acquired Okmetic, a silicon wafer maker jointly founded in 1985 by Finnish telecoms giant Nokia and stainless steelmaker Outokumpu. Okmetic’s website says it is the world’s seventh-largest producer of silicon wafers.

Shares of NSIG [SHA: 688126] ended 0.4 percent higher today at CNY22.26 (USD3.31) each, after earlier gaining as much as 3.8 percent.

Editor: Futura Costaglione