31 Trillion Won Total Investment in Phase 1 Fab
Eased Floor Area Ratio Limits and Semiconductor Demand Reflected
Cleanroom Opening Accelerated to Meet Demand
SK hynix has decided to execute a new facilities investment of 21.6 trillion won in the Yongin Cluster Phase 1 fab, which it is preparing with the goal of completing the first plant next year. The total investment in the Phase 1 fab will amount to 31 trillion won, with the company increasing its capital投入 further amid eased floor area ratio regulations and rising demand for artificial intelligence (AI) development. The company also plans to move up the cleanroom opening schedule from May next year to February.
On the 25th, SK hynix announced in a regulatory filing that it has decided to execute new facilities investment of approximately 21.6 trillion won in the Yongin Cluster Phase 1 fab, located in Cheoin-gu, Yongin-si, Gyeonggi-do, by the end of December 2030. Including the approximately 9.4 trillion won in facilities investment announced earlier in July 2024, the total投入 will reach 31 trillion won.
The company stated in its newsroom on the same day, "This investment is a strategic decision to preemptively respond to rapidly increasing global customer demand and to further strengthen our stable supply system," adding, "With the spread of advanced industries such as AI, data centers, and high-performance computing, demand for high-performance, high-density semiconductors is structurally expanding."
The expansion of SK hynix's investment scale was influenced by the improvement in the industrial complex floor area ratio. Last year, under the National Advanced Strategic Industry Act, the floor area ratio of industrial complexes where companies possessing strategic technologies are located was relaxed to up to 1.4 times the legal upper limit. Accordingly, the company expanded the cleanroom area and increased the investment scale after fully reflecting factors such as inflation.
As a result, the Phase 1 fab will consist of a total of two structural frames, three floors in total, and six cleanrooms. The company explained that through this investment, it plans to complete the structural frame construction of the Phase 1 fab and use the funds to build all cleanrooms from Phase 2 through Phase 6.
As demand for advanced semiconductors is rapidly expanding amid the AI boom, securing large-scale production capacity and establishing a stable supply system are becoming increasingly important. In this context, the company has moved up the expected cleanroom opening date from May 2027 to February of the same year. The company plans to respond more nimbly to future demand in line with the readiness for early operation.
In addition, starting with this investment, the company plans to accelerate the creation of a mutually beneficial ecosystem with about 50 partner companies within the cluster. SK hynix said, "We will work closely so that the expansion of production capacity can lead to shared growth with materials, parts, and equipment companies, and through mutual synergies, we will complete the world's best semiconductor cluster that leads the global market beyond the Republic of Korea."
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