Samsung considers four sites in US for $17b chip plant

Samsung Electronics Co Ltd is considering two sites in Arizona and another one in New York in addition to Austin, Texas, for a new $17 billion chip plant, according to documents filed with Texas state officials.

The tech giant is also seeking combined tax abatements of $1.48 billion over 20 years from Travis County in Texas and the city of Austin, it added in the documents dated Feb. 26, up from the $805.5 million previously mentioned.

Samsung is in talks with the sites at Arizona and New York, with each offering property tax abatement and "significant grants and/or refundable tax credits" to fund infrastructure improvements, the documents said.

The new plant Samsung plans to build would produce "advanced logic devices" for Samsung's chip contract manufacturing business, and could create 1,800 jobs, according to previous documents filed with Texas state officials.

Samsung already has a chip plant in Austin, which due to shutdowns caused by a winter storm last month is expected to need a couple of weeks to resume production.

Samsung is considering a number of possibilities in terms of expansion, a spokesman for the South Korean firm told Reuters on Wednesday, without elaborating.