Micron Technology announced an investment Tuesday aimed at restarting domestic processing of minerals critical to advanced semiconductor manufacturing, funneling strategic funding into Indium Corporation's refining and manufacturing expansion in Rome, New York. The deal also includes a long-term supply agreement giving Micron access to high-purity minerals produced at the Central New York facility. The specific dollar amount of Micron's investment in Indium was not disclosed.
According to a GlobeNewswire release, the investment is expected to support the expansion of Indium Corporation's capabilities and help restart domestic processing of critical minerals needed for advanced chipmaking. Micron and Indium will enter into the long-term supply agreement as part of the arrangement, the release states. As syracuse.com reported, Micron did not specify how much it was investing in Indium, which is based in the Oneida County town of New Hartford and makes solders and other materials critical for semiconductor manufacturing.
A 90-Year-Old Central New York Manufacturer Takes On a National Role
Indium Corporation says it has called Central New York home for more than 90 years while developing advanced-technology materials, per the same GlobeNewswire release. The company's Rome, New York plant is where the refining and manufacturing expansion will take place.
Micron framed the move as both a business and security priority. The company said the investment is expected to reduce reliance on concentrated global refining capacity, addressing what it described as a growing national-security concern, per the GlobeNewswire announcement. Securing these inputs is essential to Micron's long-term growth and technology roadmap, per a statement carried by SustainabilityHQ.
Part of a Much Bigger Bet on Clay and U.S. Chip Manufacturing
The Indium investment is one piece of a much larger commitment: Micron plans to invest up to $3 billion to develop the domestic semiconductor supply-chain ecosystem supporting its U.S. manufacturing footprint, a plan the company first laid out in July, according to a press release from Micron's investor relations site. That same announcement said Micron expects its total U.S. fabrication and technology spending to exceed $250 billion through 2035.
The July announcement also marked the first concrete pour at Micron's semiconductor manufacturing site in Clay, New York, a milestone the company said transitioned the project from site preparation to vertical construction, per Micron's investor relations page. The Rome expansion with Indium builds on that momentum, tying a Mohawk Valley supplier more tightly into the fabrication buildout underway in Onondaga County, as reported by Eagle News Online.
Gallium Recovery Work Already Underway at the Same Rome Facility
Indium's Rome plant wasn't a blank slate for this kind of work. The company was earlier awarded a $3.2 million grant by the U.S. Department of Energy to develop a domestic process for recovering high-purity gallium from manufacturing by-products, with that grant-funded work conducted at Indium Corporation's facility in Rome, New York, according to a release from Indium Corporation. The same release notes that the United States has not produced gallium domestically since 1987 and remains 100% net import reliant for the material.
Leading-node semiconductors require over 300 materials, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Micron's Partnership Fits a Broader Semiconductor Investment Wave
Micron's Indium deal arrives amid a surge of federal and private semiconductor investment nationally. Companies across the semiconductor ecosystem have announced more than 160 projects in 30 states since 2020, totaling more than $828 billion in private investment, according to the industry group Semiconductor Industry Association. The group also reports the U.S. Department of Commerce has announced $34.0787 billion in grant awards and up to $7.15 billion in loans to 36 companies across 53 projects nationwide.
Micron itself has drawn separate federal support elsewhere in its network: the Department of Commerce proposed up to $275 million to expand and modernize Micron's Manassas, Virginia facility, with expected capital expenditures of $2 billion over several years, projected to create more than 400 manufacturing jobs and up to 2,700 community jobs at its peak, per the same trade association's tracking. The broader industry is projected to exceed $1 trillion in annual value by 2030, according to McKinsey, underscoring why securing the raw materials behind each chip has become a priority for manufacturers like Micron.
