Hynix Semiconductor and European chipmaker STMicroelectronics NV completed the construction of their $2 billion plant in eastern China on Oct. 10, the Korean company said. Hynix and STMicro started building the chip-making facility in the Chinese city of Wuxi in April last year, with an aim of grabbing a bigger slice of the fast-growing memory chip market in China. For Hynix, the Wuxi plant was a desperate choice to avoid countervailing tariffs from the United States and Japan. The Wuxi plant has two production lines to produce 8-inch and 12-inch wafers. Hynix and STMicro began production at its 8-inch line in April this year with an initial monthly production capacity of 50,000 sheets.
The 12-inch line, which started trial production in July, will manufacture 18,000 wafers a month, the Korean chipmaker said. Hynix said it may consider investing more to upgrade the plant’s facilities earlier than scheduled, depending on market situations. Hynix owns a 67 percent stake in the Chinese plant with STMicro holding the remainder.