Back in 2019, SK hynix intended to begin developing a production cluster in Yongin, but the pandemic prevented the corresponding plans, and it returned to the idea of developing this site for the production of memory chips only in the spring of this year, confirming its readiness to invest about $91 billion in the project until 2046. At the first stage, however, expenses will be limited to $6.8 billion.
Image Source: SK Hynix
The corresponding amount, as Reuters notes, will be spent by SK hynix on the construction of the first of four enterprises; the company expects to begin construction in March next year. As of March of this year, the construction site was slightly more than a third ready for further work. The memory production plant being built by SK hynix is set to become the largest in the world. It is difficult to say what range of products it will produce after commissioning, but from the comments of SK hynix representatives at the last quarterly conference it is known that the company can redistribute production resources quite flexibly between HBM and DDR memory types.
The South Korean authorities, which are not very generous with subsidies in the semiconductor sector, prefer to participate in such projects with tax breaks or infrastructure work. In Yongin, they also committed to providing the future SK hynix facility with the necessary energy resources. According to the plans of the South Korean authorities, this year the country will be able to export memory of the HBM family worth more than $120 billion. SK hynix is the largest manufacturer of chips of this type.