SK Hynix of the U.S. Breaks Ground on Over $4 Billion HBM Packaging Base

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On August 27, SK Hynix held a groundbreaking ceremony for an advanced memory packaging production base in West Lafayette, Indiana, U.S. With a total project investment exceeding $4 billion and covering approximately 133.5 acres, the site will feature next-generation High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) advanced packaging production lines and R&D facilities, marking SK Hynix's first HBM production base in the United States.

According to the latest construction schedule, the cleanroom is planned to be operational in October 2028, with mass production of next-generation HBM slated to begin in the second half of 2029. During the groundbreaking event, SK Hynix CEO Kwak Noh-Jung stated that HBM4E products are planned to commence volume production in the third quarter of 2029, with the base's ultimate annual processing capacity expected to reach hundreds of thousands of wafers. Once the project enters commercial operation, the facility is expected to employ approximately 1,000 staff members.

The base adopts a production arrangement linked to SK Hynix's Korean manufacturing system: wafers produced in Korea will be shipped to Indiana, where advanced packaging and testing will be completed before supply to U.S. customers. An advanced packaging R&D and testing platform will also be built alongside the production lines for next-generation packaging technology development, prototype manufacturing, and performance verification.

During the groundbreaking ceremony, SK Hynix signed a memorandum of understanding with Purdue University on advanced packaging R&D collaboration, with both parties set to conduct joint research on HBM, system integration, and advanced packaging technologies. SK Hynix is currently evaluating more than 100 materials, components, and equipment companies as potential suppliers for the West Lafayette base, and projects that the project's construction and subsequent operations will generate approximately 7,000 direct and indirect jobs.

The U.S. Department of Commerce completed the project's CHIPS and Science Act incentive arrangement in December 2024, providing SK Hynix with up to $458 million in direct funding and up to $500 million in loans, with funds to be disbursed in stages based on project construction milestones. The project investment scale confirmed at that time was approximately $3.87 billion; SK Hynix has now adjusted the latest total investment figure to over $4 billion.