SK Hynix to Invest Another $38.3 Billion to Expand Production. Driven by the rapid surge in demand for AI servers and a booming memory market, South Korean memory giant SK Hynix has decided to ramp up production capacity. The company recently approved an investment of 54.3 trillion won (approximately US$38.3 billion) to build new semiconductor facilities, aiming to quickly boost output to meet the flood of customer orders.
According to reports from Reuters and other media outlets, SK Hynix announced on August 7 that its board had approved the 54.3 trillion won investment plan. Of this total, 35.2 trillion won will be allocated to the "Y2" fab—the second wafer fabrication plant at the Yongin Semiconductor Cluster—while the remaining 19.1 trillion won will go toward the new "M17" plant in Cheongju. The investment will be executed in phases, running through October 2031.
SK Hynix had previously unveiled a long-term investment roadmap in June, planning to spend 600 trillion won to develop the Yongin Semiconductor Cluster and 100 trillion won to expand its Cheongju production base. The Yongin Y2 fab is the second of four planned wafer plants at the cluster; it will focus on High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) and next-generation DRAM. Construction is scheduled to begin in July 2027, with the first cleanroom set to open in June 2029.
To accelerate its capture of AI memory market opportunities, SK Hynix has also significantly advanced the completion schedule for the Yongin Semiconductor Cluster, moving the target date from 2045 to 2033. Construction of the Yongin Y1 fab is currently underway, with its first cleanroom expected to open in February 2027.
Meanwhile, the new Cheongju M17 plant will focus on NAND flash production; construction is slated to begin in February 2027, with the first cleanroom scheduled to open in December 2028.
