Toshiba Corp. said Tuesday it will start constructing a new semiconductor plant in July in central Thailand, relocating production from its existing factory whose output has been halted due to damage caused by the flooding last October.

Toshiba said it will relocate its production of so-called discrete semiconductors used in electronics products from the plant run by its local company, Toshiba Semiconductor Thailand Co., once the new plant in Purachinburi, north of Bangkok, starts operation in the April-June quarter of 2013.

The relocation has been planned since before last year's flooding to improve production efficiency of such devices to meet the growing demand for use in smartphones and home electronics, a company official said.