Taiwan's Chi Mei plans two billion dollar expenditure for 2008

TAIPEI, Dec 10, 2007 (AFP) - Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corp, Taiwan's leading flat panel maker, said Monday it was planning a 65 billion Taiwan dollars (2.01 billion US) capital expenditure program in 2008.

This was down sharply from an estimated 80 billion dollars to be spent in 2007, a company official said.

The investment would be used to complete construction of two liquid crystal display (LCD) production sites used for large-size TV screen manufacturing, the official said.

A LCD plant churning out products for 32-inch and 37-inch TV screens was under construction in Tainan, southern Taiwan, and production was scheduled to begin in mid-2008.

Another plant, also in Tainan, making products for 42-inch TV screens, was expanding into a second phase of construction and scheduled to start production in the second quarter of next year.

Chi Mai has said it ranks in the top four LCD panel suppliers in the world.