Global chip plant usage rate 89.6 pct in July-Sept

TOKYO, Nov 14 (Reuters) - The utilisation rate of semiconductor plants worldwide nudged down to 89.6 percent in July-September from 89.7 percent in the previous quarter, an industry group said on Wednesday.

The data is compiled by Semiconductor International Capacity Statistics (SICAS), a group of 41 major chipmakers including Intel Corp (INTC.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), Samsung Electronics Co Ltd (005930.KS: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Texas Instruments Inc (TXN.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz).

Utilisation rates below 90 percent can discourage chipmakers from building new factories, which would be bad news for suppliers of microchip-making equipment such as Applied Materials Inc (AMAT.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Tokyo Electron Ltd (8035.T: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz). (Reporting by Mayumi Negishi)