Showa Denko opens second hard disk media plant in Singapore

Japan's major electronic parts manufacturer Showa Denko K.K. will invest 60 billion yen (about 511 million U.S. dollars) in its second plant in Singapore to produce plates used in hard disk drives.

The new plant will employ 600 workers and is expected to operate early next year, according to a statement issued Thursday by the Japan-based company, which started its hard disk media manufacturing operation here in 2003.

The plant comes after Seagate Technology, a top hard disk drive manufacturer in the world, launched its third media manufacturing plant here in September.

The presence of Showa Denko and other key players in the sector, such as Seagate and Hoya, in Singapore was a telling sign of the city state's capabilities and attractiveness to hard disk drive industry, Lim Hng Kiang, Singapore's Minister for Trade and Industry, said at the opening ceremony of the new plant.

In recent years, Singapore has reaped a leadership position in the manufacture of hard disk media, a key component of hard disk drives.

In 2005, Singapore already accounted for 25 percent of the world's hard disk media output in terms of volume, according to the minister.

Singapore's hard disk drive industry contributed about 20 percent, or 14 billion Singapore dollars (about 9.1 billion U.S. dollars), to the country's electronics output, and employed some 20,000 people in 2005.

Lim estimated that Singapore will be able to double its annual hard disk media output by 2008.

Source: Xinhua