Israel’s computer chip supply to China had reportedly soared in 2018 as Chinese firms purchased more semiconductors manufactured at Intel’s plant based in Kiryat Gat.
An official of the Israel Export Institute stated that as per the new data, semiconductor exports to China in 2018 surged 80 percent to $2.6 billion. Moreover, Intel Israel accounted for almost 80 percent of those sales.
The data will be welcome news to the government of Israel as it thrusts for deeper ties with China, also because semiconductors equaled $3.9 billion of the total goods exports in 2018, stated the export institute.
According to sources familiar with the development, the two countries have begun negotiations on a trade deal and technology is projected to be a significant part of the discussions. In general exports of Israeli goods to China, excluding diamonds, increased 50 percent to $4.7 billion, reported sources.
Reportedly, Intel had announced an investment of $5 billion in a bid to expand capacity in its Kiryat Gat plant located in Southern Israel in 2017, which produces some of the world’s smallest and fastest chips in the world. The same year it also acquired Mobileye, an Israeli auto-focused chip and technology firm for $15 billion. This year the company will invest $11 billion in a new plant in Israel, Intel said.
A spokesman for Intel claimed the firm exported goods worth $3.9 billion from Israel last year, compared to $3.6 billion in 2017. Meanwhile, Chinese officials have stated they are looking to build a domestic chip market in view of the fact that companies in the nation import semiconductors worth $270 each year, cited sources.
Israel’s export institute also mentioned that sales of equipment for manufacturing semiconductor for China also grew 64 percent to $450 million last year. For the record, Israel has been pivoting its economy toward Asia due to perceived political hostility in some European nations and in consort with the fact that Asian markets are growing at a rapid rate, reported sources.
