Merck Opens Molybdenum Chip Materials Plant in South Korea
The German technology group has opened a semiconductor materials facility in Eumseong to serve advanced memory-chip production in Korea and across Asia.
German science and technology group Merck has opened a new semiconductor materials plant in Eumseong, North Chungcheong Province, expanding its production base in South Korea as chipmakers seek new materials for increasingly complex memory devices.
The facility will manufacture molybdenum dioxide dichloride, a precursor used to deposit extremely thin metal films during semiconductor production. Merck plans to supply customers in South Korea and elsewhere in Asia from the site, strengthening a local supply chain in one of the world’s most important memory-chip markets.
The plant will initially focus on materials for advanced three-dimensional NAND flash memory. This type of memory increases capacity by stacking cells vertically, creating technical challenges as manufacturers add layers and reduce the dimensions of individual components. Molybdenum is emerging as an alternative to tungsten because tungsten’s electrical resistance becomes more problematic at smaller scales. The newer material can also reduce the need for barrier films that take up valuable space within microscopic structures.
Merck Electronics CEO Benjamin Hein described South Korea as one of the company’s three largest semiconductor-materials markets. He said the company was preparing for the possibility that demand for semiconductor materials and related solutions could double within five years.
South Korea’s two leading memory manufacturers are already part of the broader shift. Samsung Electronics began using molybdenum in its ninth-generation V-NAND in 2024, while SK hynix has reportedly been preparing to introduce the material in a next-generation NAND product with 375 layers. Merck executives said adoption is starting in NAND, with potential applications in DRAM and logic chips expected to follow, although the timing will depend on individual customers.
The Eumseong operation will be paired with chemical-delivery systems manufactured at Merck’s Ansan facility in Gyeonggi Province. The company says this integrated setup can use more than 99 percent of the material loaded into its containers, which could help reduce waste and production costs.
The expansion is part of a 600 million euro investment program Merck announced in 2021. The company disclosed plans for the molybdenum facility in February but has not revealed its construction cost or output capacity. Merck also identified advanced packaging as another major growth area, citing an immediate shortage of packaging capacity as manufacturers combine multiple chips into more complex systems. The new plant underscores how global suppliers are positioning production close to South Korea’s chipmakers as the race for denser and more efficient semiconductors accelerates.