SK Hynix to Establish M15X Factory in Cheongju Next Month

Target Completion Early 2025... Park Jung-ho "Preparing for the Next 10 Years"

SK Hynix Cheongju Plant Production Facility Complex. [Photo by SK Hynix]

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Yeju] SK Hynix will build a new semiconductor production plant, M15X (eXtension), in Cheongju, Chungbuk.

SK Hynix announced on the 6th that, after comprehensively considering market conditions, it has decided to advance the groundbreaking of M15X, an expansion fab of M15, ahead of schedule.

SK Hynix plans to start construction of M15X in October on a site of approximately 60,000㎡ within the Cheongju Technopolis Industrial Complex, aiming for completion in early 2025. The company plans to invest a total of 15 trillion KRW over the next five years in building the M15X plant and establishing production facilities.

M15X will have a multi-story structure and will be similar in scale to the combined size of the existing Cheongju M11 and M12 plants.

Additionally, SK Hynix will decide the groundbreaking timing for the nearby new M17 plant by considering semiconductor market conditions and the business environment.

Park Jung-ho, Vice Chairman of SK Hynix, said, "Looking back over the past 10 years, SK Hynix was able to grow into a global company thanks to bold investments made with foresight despite crises. Now, we must prepare for the next 10 years, and the groundbreaking of M15X will be the first step in securing the foundation for future growth."

Meanwhile, due to the recent global economic downturn and supply chain instability, demand for memory semiconductors has sharply decreased. However, as the cycle of fluctuations in the memory semiconductor market is shortening, experts expect the market to gradually recover from 2024 and rebound in 2025.

SK Hynix planned the construction of M15X as a preparatory measure to increase memory semiconductor supply in line with the market rebound expected in 2025, and it is anticipating that M15X will serve as a catalyst for the upcoming boom period.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.