● Company signs MOUs with two Chinese businesses to preemptively respond to the Chinese market for consumable part materials for semicon chip production​

● Completes vertical integration from raw materials to sales by combining high-quality raw materials of Chinese businesses with technological competence of SKC Solmics

​SKC Solmics (CEO Junrok Oh) plans to found a joint venture for the production of quartz and silicon in China in order to preemptively respond to the China market, where investment in the production of semiconductor chips is on the rise. The demand for quartz and silicon is growing in line with the growth of the semiconductor industry as they are the main raw materials of consumable parts used in the production of semiconductor chips. China is currently fostering its semiconductor industry by investing over 170 trillion won in the development and production of semiconductor chips in the ten years from 2015. 

Plans to promptly occupy the newly emerging China market for semiconductor device parts

Quartz and silicon are the main raw materials required for such processes as the equipment edging and diffusing of semiconductors. Quartz, a type of highly pure glass, has numerous applications - including processes for diffusing wafer by oxidation and removing wafer parts other than circuits by edging - as it is resistant to heat and highly transparent (light penetration). The demand for silicon, a raw material used in the edging processes, is steady as its replacement interval is short. As both materials are highly consumable, the supply cannot keep up with the rapidly growing demand, making it crucial to secure a stable source.

As they are used in microscopic processes in particular, competitiveness depends on precision processing skills. By signing the current MOU and securing a stable supply of the two raw materials, SKC Solmics has secured a stable foundation for vertical integration from raw materials to production and sales, and thus plans to occupy the newly emerging semiconductor parts market in China as early as possible.

Joint venture planned for the latter half of 2019, with commercial production scheduled to start in Q1 2020

“The current MOU is highly significant in that a bridgehead has been secured for SKC Solmics to explore the Chinese market while preemptively responding to the rapidly growing semiconductor parts market in China,” said SKC Solmics CEO Junrok Oh. “Once the joint venture company has been founded, great synergy will be generated by combining the technological competence of SKC Solmics with the high-quality raw materials of the two Chinese companies.”

Founded in Korea in 1995, SKC Solmics is a pioneer of the Korean fine ceramics industry and a producer of diverse fine ceramics products, including quartz, silicon and alumina. Its sales increased by 40.4% to 132.7 billion won while its operating income rose by 39.9% to 24.2 billion in 2017 compared with the preceding year. In October of last year, it decided to invest in a new production facility - currently under construction - in order to increase its local production capacity for quartz and silicon in phase with the rapidly growing demand in the domestic market. [End]
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