Key facts
- SK Hynix is seeking US export licenses to equip its Dalian plant, arguing higher output there would help fund its US expansion.
- Solidigm plans to invest about $45 billion in two NAND plants in Marcy, New York, with investment potentially reaching about $100 billion over time.
- Solidigm executives have met Commerce Department officials nearly 10 times since late August, one person familiar with the matter said.
- The Commerce Department has not formally denied a license to export equipment to fill empty clean space in Dalian, a person said.
- Solidigm said it was exploring options for a NAND memory fab and had made no decision on a specific course of action.
US officials have held up approval of American chipmaking equipment that SK Hynix needs to expand production in China, according to people familiar with the matter, complicating the South Korean chipmaker's plans for new memory-chip plants in New York.
SK Hynix is seeking US export licenses to equip its Dalian plant and has argued that higher output there would help fund its US expansion, the people said. The Commerce Department has not approved the new licenses, and a Commerce Department spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Solidigm, the SK Hynix US subsidiary, plans to invest about $45 billion to build two NAND plants in Marcy, New York, with the investment potentially reaching about $100 billion over time, two people said. NAND is memory used for storage in data centers.
Solidigm executives have met Commerce Department officials nearly 10 times since late August, one person said, and the company needs to increase production and develop more sophisticated NAND chipmaking in China to generate revenue to build the US facility, the people said. At a meeting in the week ended October 30, Commerce Under Secretary Jeffrey Kessler held to his position that the US would not allow more American chipmaking tools to upgrade or expand capacity, the person said. The department has not formally denied a license to export equipment to fill empty clean space in Dalian, and the two sides are negotiating a separate license for 2027 equipment to keep the plant running.
Leland Miller, a member of the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission, said: "Ultimately, none of this is going to go forward without a green light from the White House." The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In a statement the week ended October 30, Solidigm said it "regularly evaluates strategic alternatives" and was "currently exploring options for building a NAND memory fab at potential locations around the world," adding that "No decision regarding any specific course of action has been made." Solidigm repeated that statement, and SK Hynix did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside business hours.