SEOUL: The world’s second-largest maker of memory chips,
SK Hynix
, said on Friday it had decided to invest about 9.4 trillion won ($6.8 billion) in its first
chip plant
in the South Korean city of Yongin.
The
Nvidia
supplier, which reported on Thursday its highest earnings since 2018 and
flagged rising AI chip demand
, has been planning investment since 2019 on four new
chip
plants at a semiconductor cluster at the site near Seoul.
“The Yongin cluster will be the foundation for SK Hynix’s mid- to long-term growth,” said Kim Young-sik, the firm’s head of
manufacturing technology
.
The investment aims to respond to demand for
AI semiconductors
and secure future growth, SK Hynix said in a regulatory filing.
The sprawling 4.2 million sq. m. site, will eventually house the company’s four planned chip plants producing next-generation semiconductors as well as more than 50 small local firms in the chip industry, SK Hynix said in a statement.
Friday’s figure is expected to cover work on the first plant until end-2028, for utilities such as water and electricity, as well as business support and welfare facilities.
It will include a “mini-fab”, or research facility that can process 300-mm silicon wafers, to allow domestic chip materials and equipment makers to test their products in a realistic setting, the company said.
The news follows the company’s plan, unveiled in April, to invest about $3.87 billion for an advanced packaging plant and research and development facility for AI products in the US state of Indiana.
