China attracts investment

Linde and Entegris are both investing in facilities that will supply materials to China’s electronics sector. China is currently spending more than $100 billion to build up its semiconductor industry, Linde says. Through its joint venture with Lien Hwa Industrial, Linde will spend close to $120 million on facilities that supply high-purity gases to companies producing semiconductors, displays, and solar energy cells in eastern and central China. Linde already supplies high-purity nitrogen, ammonia, nitrous oxide, and other gases to customers in China. Separately, Entegris has reached a technology and licensing agreement with China’s Spectrum Materials, a manufacturer of germane and other high-purity gases for electronics. Spectrum will implement Entegris’s manufacturing processes to produce the U.S. firm’s specialty chemicals at Spectrum’s facility in Quanzhou, Fujian. Entegris entered the electronic materials business in 2014 when it acquired ATMI for $1.2 billion.