SK hynix to invest $12.9 billion in Cheongju P&T7 to boost HBM packaging
SK hynix has outlined plans to build a new advanced packaging and test fab in Cheongju, South Korea, as it tries to keep up with fast-rising demand for high-bandwidth memory (HBM) used in AI accelerators. In a Korean-language explainer, the company said the project—called P&T7—will involve total investment of ₩19 trillion ($12.9 billion) and will focus on advanced packaging processes required for AI memory products such as HBM.
According to the company, the P&T7 site will be built inside the Cheongju Technopolis industrial complex on a 70,000-pyeong plot (about 231,000 m²). Construction is scheduled to start in April 2026, with completion targeted for the end of 2027. SK hynix positions the decision as both a supply-chain and operations move—keeping critical back-end steps close to front-end wafer production—and as part of a broader policy push towards more balanced regional development in South Korea.
The P&T7 packaging plant
HBM supply is increasingly constrained not only by wafer capacity, but also by packaging throughput and yields, as the technology relies on stacking and tightly integrating memory dies. SK hynix’s own note points to an HBM market CAGR forecast of 33% for 2025–2030, which helps explain why the company is putting dedicated capacity behind the back-end steps. A separate report framed the move as a roughly $13 billion build-out aimed at supporting HBM output for AI systems.
The Cheongju location is also about line balancing. SK hynix said P&T7 is intended to link closely with its existing Cheongju footprint, including the M15X fab project it announced previously, with the goal of optimising production flows between wafer processing and packaging/test.
P&T7 packaging plant timeline and Cheongju build-out
SK hynix has been expanding Cheongju for years, and it is increasingly positioning the area as a core AI-memory hub rather than “just” another DRAM site. The company previously announced the M15 fab in 2018 and the M15X plan in 2024; it also said the M15X build is progressing, with equipment being installed. For context on where its HBM roadmap is heading, eeNews Europe previously covered the company’s move towards higher-stack parts, including its 16-layer HBM3E plans.
Bottom line: the P&T7 packaging plant is a capacity bet on HBM staying structurally tight—where packaging is a first-order limiter—and on Cheongju being the place SK hynix wants to integrate more of that AI-memory value chain.
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