On January 23, Beijing time, the US media published an article on Monday saying that due to the impact of US chip restrictions, the future of South Korean chip giant SK Hynix's factory in Dalian, China is uncertain.US media believe that SK Hynix may consider selling the factory. SK hynix denied this.In 2020, SK Hynix acquired the Dalian memory chip factory from Intel for US$9 billion, hoping to expand production capacity and enter the cutting-edge chip field in China, the world's largest chip market.
However, chip restrictions introduced by the United States have affected SK Hynix’s investment plans, causing uncertainty at the Dalian factory. Currently, Intel's company logo still hangs on the aquamarine glass curtain wall of the Dalian factory.SK Hynix will pay Intel the final payment of the factory acquisition transaction in 2025.
Last fall, SK hynix received good news. The company, along with another South Korean chipmaker Samsung Electronics, received an indefinite exemption from the United States to import American chipmaking equipment for factories in mainland China.However, this exemption is not guaranteed to exist in the long term, foreign media said that they consider that Trump, the front-runner for the US Republican presidential candidate, may win the US presidential election in November this year and return to the White House.
US media said SK Hynix may seek to reduce losses and sell its Dalian factory, but this decision is likely to still require the approval of the U.S. government, as the United States is unlikely to allow the plant to be sold to a Chinese bidder. SK hynix CEO Kwak Noh-Jung said at a press conference earlier this month,The U.S. exemption "significantly reduces the risk" for SK Hynix's operations in China.
SK hynix denied the rumors of selling the Dalian factory."We are not considering selling the Dalian fab at all. SK Hynix will maintain its business in China, while complying with the regulations and laws of the jurisdictions where the business is located, and do its part for the development of the semiconductor industry," the company said.