US holds up chip-tool licenses for SK Hynix's China plant, snagging its New York memory-fab plans
US officials have held up approval for American chipmaking equipment SK Hynix wants for its Dalian, China NAND plant, complicating its plans for new memory-chip plants in New York, Reuters reports, citing people familiar with the matter. SK Hynix argues more output from Dalian would help fund its Solidigm unit's planned ~$45 billion pair of NAND fabs in Marcy, New York, which could grow to about $100 billion. Solidigm executives have met Commerce officials nearly 10 times since late August, and Under Secretary Jeffrey Kessler has held that the US won't allow tools that expand or upgrade capacity, though no license has been formally denied.
Source: Reuters