SAFC Hitech® Opens New Taiwan Facility to Enhance Global Capacity for High-Brightness LED Precursor Manufacturing

ST. LOUIS, March 14, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- SAFC Hitech®, a member of the Sigma-Aldrich® Group, today underlined its commitment to the Asia-Pacific electronics markets with the opening of its new multi-million US dollar facility in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. The 270,000 sq ft expansion significantly increases the site's existing capacity for the high-volume manufacturing of high-quality Trimethylgallium (TMG), Triethylgallium (TEG) and Trimethylindium (TMI) precursors for High Brightness LED (HBLED) applications. The site will also produce Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) and Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) precursors for the silicon semiconductor market and offer regional transfilling capability and technical service and support. Additional information regarding the facility and its opening can be found at SAFC Hitech's social media hub, SAFC hi.

The latest expansion of SAFC Hitech's global manufacturing footprint reinforces Taiwan as a strategic regional hub from which to leverage the Company's existing proprietary knowledge and capabilities as a leading provider of ultra-high purity metalorganic and silicon precursors for thin film deposition production processes for the microelectronics and optoelectronic markets. SAFC Hitech's existing Taiwan operations will transition to the new Kaohsiung facility, which opened today during a ceremony attended by dignitaries, including Kaohsiung City Mayor, Miss Chiu Chen, and senior Company executives, Rakesh Sachdev, Sigma-Aldrich President and CEO, Gilles Cottier, SAFC President and Philip Rose, SAFC Hitech President.

Speaking of the new facility, Philip Rose commented: "One of SAFC Hitech's key objectives is to continue to provide leading materials technology solutions to drive functional performance in end use devices in the high growth markets we serve - for now and in the future. Following the March 2010 production expansion for TMG at our Bromborough, UK manufacturing site, this strategic investment in Taiwan will continue to strengthen our position as a leading global supplier of reliable precursors for the HBLED market. This market is tailored to address the increased focus on improving efficiency and reducing energy costs through design and technology advances, which is driving the electronics sector to introduce more energy-conscious products and systems."

"Due to the rise in demand for LEDs, and in particular HBLEDs, we are increasingly engaged in customer collaboration activities throughout the Asia-Pacific region," added Dr. Geoff Irvine, VP of Marketing and Business Development at SAFC Hitech. "With 30 years experience in supplying precursors, our focus is on developing local infrastructure and manufacturing capacity in order to continue to offer customers a broad product range and novel delivery systems optimized for performance and cost of ownership. Our proprietary delivery systems like bubblers/ampoules and EpiFill™, EpiVapor™ and EpiSensor™ are allied to strong application development and vertical integrated manufacturing."

In addition to the enhanced manufacturing capacity, SAFC Hitech's Kaohsiung site capabilities can handle and characterize highly specialized laboratory-scale chemicals and features a dedicated customer support center. The site also provides integrated inert atmosphere transfilling stations, state-of-the-art analytical instrumentation for the detection of ultra-low metallic and oxygen containing contaminants and dedicated cylinder preparation and packaging areas. The site is ISO 9001 certified for quality with work to acquire ISO 14001 certification for safety and environmental protocols in process.

For additional information on SAFC Hitech's world-class portfolio of products and services, visit www.safchitech.com.  Sales inquires should be directed to Andrew Wallmueller, Vice-President of Global Sales, SAFC Hitech, at [email protected]

Cautionary statement:  The foregoing release contains forward-looking statements that can be identified by terminology such as "can provide," "to drive functional performance," will strengthen our position, "optimized for performance and cost of ownership", "can handle and characterize", or similar expressions, or by expressed or implied discussions regarding potential future revenues from products derived therefrom. You should not place undue reliance on these statements. There can be no guarantee that the products and services described in this release, including TMG, TEG and TMI, will continue to meet the demands of the marketplace. Nor can there be any guarantee that any of these materials will achieve any particular levels of revenue in the future. Such forward-looking statements reflect the current views of management regarding future events, and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such statements. In particular, management's expectations regarding these products and services could be affected by, among other things, unexpected regulatory actions or delays or government regulation generally; the Company's ability to obtain or maintain patent or other proprietary intellectual property protection; competition in general; government, industry and general public pricing pressures; the impact that the foregoing factors could have on the values attributed to the Company's assets and liabilities as recorded in its consolidated balance sheet, and other risks and factors referred to in Sigma-Aldrich's current Form 10-K on file with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those anticipated, believed, estimated or expected. Sigma-Aldrich is providing the information in this press release as of this date and does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this press release as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

About SAFC Hitech: SAFC Hitech provides a unique chemistry service translating application understanding into performance materials worldwide. Through collaborative partnerships and an integrated approach from research and development, process development and scale up to commercial manufacturing, SAFC Hitech invests in innovation and manufacturing enabling current and future technology needs. Further information can be found at http://www.safchitech.com.

About SAFC®: SAFC is the custom manufacturing and services business unit of Sigma-Aldrich Corporation. We are recognized as a top 10 global fine chemical supplier and trusted manufacturer of specialty chemicals and biologics for the life science and high technology industries. Utilizing global "Centers of Excellence" and dedicated manufacturing facilities, SAFC can often resolve development and manufacturing challenges and accelerate the production of custom materials. Our rich portfolio includes high-purity inorganic materials for high technology applications, cell culture products, services for biopharmaceutical manufacturing and biochemical production, and complex, multi-step organic synthesis of APIs and key intermediates. For more information about SAFC, visit www.safcglobal.com.

About Sigma-Aldrich:  Sigma-Aldrich is a leading Life Science and High Technology company whose biochemical, organic chemical products, kits and services are used in scientific research, including genomic and proteomic research, biotechnology, pharmaceutical development, the diagnosis of disease and as key components in pharmaceutical, diagnostics and high technology manufacturing. Sigma-Aldrich customers include more than 1.3 million scientists and technologists in life science companies, university and government institutions, hospitals and industry. The Company operates in 40 countries and has nearly 9,000 employees whose objective is to provide excellent service worldwide. Sigma-Aldrich is committed to accelerating customer success through innovation and leadership in Life Science and High Technology.  For more information about Sigma-Aldrich, please visit its website at http://www.sigmaaldrich.com.

SAFC, SAFC Hitech, EpiFill, EpiSensor, EpiVapor and Sigma-Aldrich are registered trademarks of Sigma-Aldrich Co.

SOURCE Sigma-Aldrich