이 기사는 2022년 03월 18일 08:14 thebell 에 표출된 기사입니다.

SK Group’s silicon wafer affiliate SK Siltron plans to invest about 1 trillion won ($825 million) to boost its wafer production capacity to respond to growing global demand.

The company announced on Wednesday that it will spend nearly 1.05 trillion won over the next three years to build a plant that can produce 300mm silicon wafers in Gumi, North Gyeongsang Province. The construction on 42,716 square meters of land is expected to begin in the first half of this year, with a goal to mass produce in the first half of 2024. The company said it will hire more than 1,000 employees to vitalize the region and contribute to job creation in the local community.

SK Siltron counts major chipmakers including Samsung Electronics, SK hynix, DB HiTek, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSMC) and U.S-based chip giant Intel and Mictron Technology among its clients.

Silicon wafer production is oligopoly where five companies account for 94% of the global market share. SK Siltron is the world’s fifth largest silicon wafer producer following Japan-based Shin-Etsu Chemical and Sumco, German company Siltronic and Taiwanese firm GlobalWafers.

The Korean firm is the world’s third largest by 300mm silicon wafer revenue. The 300mm silicon wafers are SK Siltron’s main products while it also produces 200mm silicon wafers.

The latest investment plan is expected to accelerate the company’s push to become the world’s largest silicon wafer producer. Given that wafer production technology is almost standardized in the market, the odds to become the top manufacturer are high if it expands business relationships with clients through aggressive capacity expansion.

Global market conditions are favorable to SK Siltron. GlobalWafers' planned 4.35 billion euro takeover of Siltronic collapsed recently as the deal didn’t receive regulatory approval on time.

SK Siltron is also expanding its presence in silicon carbide (SiC) wafer market. SK Siltron acquired U.S. DuPont’s SiC wafer business in 2020 and set up Siltron CSS. SK Siltron pledged to invest $300 million to build a new plant in Bay City, Michigan, near its Auburn plant, over the next three years to meet surging SiC wafer demands. (Reporting by Hye-ran Kim)