SK hynix Ties a US NAND Fab to More Tool Exports for Its Dalian Plant
The Korean memory maker wants Washington to authorise additional US chipmaking equipment for its Dalian NAND site and use the proceeds to fund a new US plant, at a time when export curbs are squeezing layer-stacking upgrades.
SK hynix is seeking US authorisation to install more chipmaking equipment at its NAND flash facility in Dalian, China, as part of a plan to finance a new semiconductor factory in the United States, Reuters reported on 15 October citing people familiar with the matter. The proposal centres on Solidigm, SK hynix's US subsidiary, which wants to outfit Mod B, a fabrication space completed in 2023 whose equipment installation was left unfinished during the memory downturn. Cash generated by the expanded Chinese operations would help fund the US NAND plant, and Solidigm is reportedly also considering an initial public offering as early as next year to raise additional capital for the project.
Both sides are careful about how this is characterised. SK hynix told Reuters that equipment installation at Dalian's Mod B is proceeding in consultation with and under authorisation from the US government, and said it is not seeking to expand capacity there; Solidigm declined to comment. The request runs into restrictions tightened in September 2025, when the Commerce Department revoked the special authorisations that had let SK hynix and Samsung receive US chipmaking equipment at Chinese facilities without individual export licences, saying it would keep allowing shipments needed to maintain existing operations but not those for capacity expansion or technology upgrades. Washington granted annual approval for 2026 shipments to both companies' Chinese plants in December 2025, but the authorisation covering Dalian limits equipment quantities and approvals covering additional US equipment and technology in 2027 have not been issued.
What makes the distinction economically material is NAND's dependence on the newest etching tools. Korean outlet The Bell reported that access to advanced etching equipment becomes especially important as NAND makers raise the number of stacked layers, because using older tools requires additional processing steps that cut productivity and raise manufacturing costs. Dalian runs equipment from major US suppliers including Lam Research, Applied Materials and KLA. Layer counts, rather than headline wafer capacity, are where NAND economics are won, so the tool list rather than installed capacity is the binding constraint on how much output and how much cost curve the site can deliver.
The timing matters because Solidigm is one of the largest enterprise SSD suppliers and its bit output has been a swing factor in NAND pricing in previous cycles. Any US decision on additional equipment for Dalian therefore feeds directly into how much NAND supply reaches the market over 2027 and 2028, which is precisely the window in which makers are also steering capacity toward higher-value AI-oriented parts and away from commodity TLC. Neither the size, location nor the schedule of the proposed US fab has been disclosed, and the outcome rests on a policy decision rather than on market pricing.