- 20 March 2006 -

Saint-Gobain closes US AlN plant

Manufacturing of aluminium nitride (AlN) substrates, primarily for the
semiconductor market, has been stopped at Saint-Gobain Ceramics'
microelectronics plant in Niagara County, in Western New York, USA.
The closure of the 40 000 sq ft facility in Sanborn resulted in the
loss of around two dozen jobs. It was, the company said, the result of
overall losses in recent years because of reduced demand for products
and overcapacity in world markets. It has yet to decide what to do
with the company-owned building.

Starting in 1989 under the Carborundum Substrates Division, it was
acquired by French company Saint-Gobain ten years ago which then
changed the plant's name to Saint-Gobain Microelectronics.