SK Group’s $22bn US Chips, Energy, Bioscience Investment Plan

South Korea’s SK Group is to pump $22 billion into new semiconductors, green energy and bioscience projects in the United States.

The country’s second biggest conglomerate includes the world’s second-largest memory chipmaker SK Hynix, as well as SK Innovation, the parent of South Korea’s largest refiner SK Energy and battery maker SK On.

President Joe Biden will meet virtually on Tuesday with SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won to discuss the company’s investments in US manufacturing and jobs, the White House said earlier.

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The investments are in semiconductors, green energy, and bioscience, “creating tens of thousands of new high-tech, high-paying American jobs,” SK said in a statement released in the United States.

They will come in addition to its $7 billion investment to build two new gigafactories in Tennessee and Kentucky as part of a joint venture with Ford Motor, it added.

The announcement is “another proof point of the success of the administration’s efforts to create more resilient and secure supply chains and outcompete the rest of the world in the technologies of the future,” a White House spokesperson said.

SK Group plans to invest $15 billion in the semiconductor industry through research and development programs, materials, and the creation of an advanced packaging and testing facility.

It will spend another $5 billion on other green energy businesses, including electric vehicle (EV) charging systems, green hydrogen production, battery materials and recycling.

The $22 billion announced Tuesday is part of the $52 billion SK’s chairman said last year it planned to invest in the United States through 2030.

In May, SK Group said it will invest 247 trillion won ($195.24 billion) in the semiconductor, battery and biopharmaceutical sectors over the next five years in South Korea and overseas.

Reuters with additional editing by Sean O’Meara

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Sean O'Meara

Sean O'Meara is an Editor at Asia Financial. He has been a newspaper man for more than 30 years, working at local, regional and national titles in the UK as a writer, sub-editor, page designer and print editor. A football, cricket and rugby fan, he has a particular interest in sports finance.