Reuters: U.S. export restrictions on China hinder SK Hynix's factory construction in New York

According to a report by Reuters, South Korean chip manufacturer SK Hynix plans to raise funds for a new memory chip factory in New York by expanding production in China, but the necessary U.S. export licenses for equipment have not yet been approved, hindering its investment plans in the U.S. The company is applying for U.S. export licenses to acquire equipment for its Dalian factory, believing that increasing the factory's output and developing more advanced NAND chip manufacturing technology will help maintain competitiveness, generate revenue, and support the U.S. factory plan.

Two informed sources said that SK Hynix's subsidiary Solidigm plans to invest about $45 billion to build two NAND flash memory factories in Marcy, New York, with a potential long-term investment of around $100 billion. Negotiations are ongoing, and whether the Dalian factory expansion plan can be approved is key to the New York factory plan. Since the end of August, Solidigm executives have met with U.S. Department of Commerce officials nearly 10 times, including meetings with Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo and Deputy Secretary Don Graves.

Graves insisted last week that the U.S. does not wish to allow more American chip manufacturing equipment to be sent to China for technology upgrades or capacity expansion. The Department of Commerce has not yet formally rejected the license application for exporting equipment to the existing idle cleanroom at the Dalian factory. Solidigm stated that it is exploring options for building NAND flash wafer fabs at potential global locations and has not yet made decisions on any specific action plans. On October 23, SK Hynix stated that Solidigm had previously considered an IPO to assist in funding the construction of U.S. production facilities, but has paused the evaluation of listing options due to recent market conditions and stock price trends.