As SEMICON Taiwan 2013 will be held on September 4-6 in Taipei, SEMI (Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International) said on September 3 that Taiwan continues to be the world's largest spender on semiconductor equipment and materials in 2013, registering US$10.43 billion and US$10.55 billion, respectively, according to the organization's report. It projects that the worldwide semiconductor equipment spending in 2013 will reach around US$36.29 billion, roughly at the same level as last year, while materials spending will inch up 1% to US$47.54 billion. In July, SEMI estimated that the worldwide chip equipment spending in 2014 will reach $43.98 billion.