Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp , reported sales of $248.8 million in the first quarter of 2005, down 14.7 percent from $291.8 million in the prior quarter.

SMIC (Shanghai) said its net loss increased to $30.0 million in the first quarter of 2005, compared to a loss of $11.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2004.

The company reported an increase in capacity to 131,172 8-inch equivalent wafers per month and a utilization rate of 85 percent in the first quarter of 2005. This compares to a utilization rate of 95 percent in the fourth quarter.

"Our revenues were in line with expectations, down 15 percent in 1Q05, mainly due to industry softness and a generally tough pricing environment for foundries," said Richard Chang, president and chief executive of SMIC, in a statement.

"However, we are encouraged by the 11.6 percent increase quarter on quarter for the 0.18-micron and below technologies due in part to our successful qualification and shipment of our first customer product from Fab 4, our first 12-inch fab," he said.

"With a reduction in our customers' inventory levels in the first quarter, we are beginning to see improved customer demand for the second half of the year," he said. "This trend in conjunction with the execution of our business strategy should lead to improvements in our business environment