Sunlit Chemical‘s new manufacturing plant, Sunlit Arizona, just got its inaugural opening in the US. It will produce industrial grade chemicals that will be used in semiconductor manufacturing facilities around the region.
The chemical manufacturing facility is located in North Phoenix. The first phase that has just been completed and launched is part of a $100 million investment by the chemical manufacturing company. Construction work on the first phase commenced in January 2022. The official area covered by the whole project is about 900,000 square feet, and this will sit on 27 acres of land in Mack Industrial Park Deer Valley.
Importance of the facility
The establishment of the facility is important to Arizona because the state is home to about 200 (give-or-take) semiconductor-related companies. This launch is especially important as the facility will not only be a ready supplier of raw materials, but will also have a ready market for its products.
Some notable tech companies that are set to “benefit” from the facility, and the project at large include Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) and the American multinational technology corporation, Intel. Construction plans by TSMC to develop its fab site are also underway. The site will sit close by in the vicinity of the Mark Industrial Park Deer Valley.
What Sunlit Arizona will offer
The chemical manufacturing facility will be useful in the following ways:
• Job creation. According to prospective press releases by the company, the Sunlit Arizona facility will have more than 50 job openings in the first quarter of 2025. Plans are also underway to bring this number up to about 100 in the near-future. This will be possible as the manufacturing process picks-up pace.
• Supplying of semiconductor fabrication materials. As aforementioned, the chemical company produces materials that have their utility in the manufacturing of semiconductors. Its strategic location in Arizona will allow for “easy business” with the chip manufacturers.
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• It will support other industries. It has been equivocally stated that the semiconductor industry is the main supply target for the company. This ambiguity leaves doors open for supply to other manufacturers that are not necessarily focused on the technology industry but could still use the materials they produce. Some of these include steel and photovoltaic cell manufacturers.
• The facility will also boost the manufacturing sector in Arizona. The governor of Arizona made this known in her statement during the opening of Sunlit’s new manufacturing plant. She stated that “jobs will be created”. Adding that the project will solidify Arizona as “the nation’s semiconductor powerhouse”. The governor, Katie Hobbs, also made it clear that the project will “create a thriving economy for all Arizonians”.
End-notes
Sunlit Arizona is now part of the growing number of semiconductor-related facilities across Arizona. It, among others, will help the TSMC $65 billion semiconductor facility in Phoenix and Intel’s $32 billion Ocotillo campus in Chandler boost their production capacities.
The CHIPS and Science act has seen to the growth of the US semiconductor industry. The construction and development of this facility will see to the realization of a number of tenets in the act. The inaugural opening of the first phase of the project comes at a strategic time as the National Semiconductor Technology Center (NSTC) also got its headquarter facility approved for in California.
Also read about the National Semiconductor Technology Center in California
