P. M. BRIEFING : Intel Closing Silicon Valley Plant

Intel Corp., which has been shifting production to newer facilities in other states, says it will phase out its last chip plant in Silicon Valley.

Intel, Silicon Valley’s largest chip maker, said Thursday it will stop building microcircuits at its outmoded, 9-year-old plant here over the next 18 months and switch the building to other uses. The change will affect about 400 workers, but the company was optimistic it could put most of them in other jobs.

The company says the San Francisco Bay Area’s high housing costs are one reason it has been moving production to Arizona, New Mexico and Oregon.

In July, Intel took a $17-million charge for closing its plant in Livermore by the first half of next year, and in October, the company said it would spend $400 million to build a plant near Dublin, Ireland.