UPDATE 2-Seagate to invest $819 mln in new Singapore plant http://today.reuters.com/news/articleinvesting.aspx?view=CN&storyID=2006-09-28T063213Z_01_SIN19114_RTRIDST_0_TECHNOLOGY-SINGAPORE-SEAGATE-UPDATE-2.XML&rpc=66&type=qcna
Thu Sep 28, 2006
(adds plant's capacity, minister's comments)
By Saeed Azhar
SINGAPORE, Sept 28 (Reuters) - Seagate Technology (STX.N: Quote, Profile, Research), the world's largest maker of computer disk drives, said on Thursday it would invest S$1.3 billion ($819 million) in its third plant in Singapore for data-storage devices.
Jerry Glembocki, senior vice president of Seagate's Recording Heads and Media Operations, told reporters that the new plant, to begin operating in mid-2008, would create 3,000 new jobs.
A total of 1,000 people will be hired by 2008 and more will be added over a period of four years, he said.
Lim Hng Kiang, minister for trade and industry, said in a speech that the new facility was a key development for Singapore, which last year accounted for a quarter of the world's disk media.
Disk media are capable of storing information expressed in any recording format.
The hard disk drive industry is crucial for Singapore, as it accounted for 20 percent, or S$14 billion, of the city-state's electronics output last year and employs 20,000 people, Lim said.
Seagate's Glembocki said the firm's three plants in Singapore would supply about 80 percent of Seagate's total requirement for recording media, which are similar to compact disks and are used in the assembly of disk drives.
He said the new plant would produce 45 million recording media disks a year when it operates at full capacity.
Seagate, based in Scotts Valley, California, acquired Maxtor Corp. in May for $1.9 billion to cement its position as the leading U.S. disk-drive maker and reduce costs while boosting revenue.
Glembocki said demand for hard disks used in recording media grew 20 percent in the financial year that ended on June 30.
He said Seagate expected the market for disks to grow to $45 billion by 2009 -- or 15 percent above industry estimates -- if storage continues to grow at 50 to 60 percent a year.
© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.