The world's third-largest contract chipmaker GlobalFoundries opened a $4 billion manufacturing plant in Singapore on Tuesday as part of a global expansion to help ease an industry supply crunch. The semiconductor sector is recovering from disruptions caused by the pandemic, high inflation and sluggish global economic growth caused in part by geopolitical tensions. The facility will produce an additional 450,000 wafers annually at full capacity by 2025 to 2026, raising the city-state's overall capacity to 1.5 million wafers each year. The chips, usually used in smartphones and other mobile devices, are also increasingly in demand by automakers, especially for electric vehicles, adding to the pressure to raise production. IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES