AI storage demand explodes, SK Hynix plans to invest $13 billion in building a packaging plant in South Korea.

SK Hynix announced on Wednesday that it plans to invest 19 trillion Korean won (approximately $12.85 billion) to build a new advanced packaging manufacturing plant in South Korea to meet the increasing global demand for artificial intelligence (AI) memory. The factory is set to begin construction this month. SK Hynix is a supplier to Nvidia and is also one of the world's largest memory chip manufacturers. The company has been expanding its production capacity to meet the strong demand for AI data center chips. In a statement, the South Korean chipmaker said the new chip manufacturing plant will be specifically for advanced packaging technology, which is crucial for producing high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips and other AI storage products. Earlier this year, SK Hynix stated that it has accelerated its capacity expansion efforts, including the early operation of a new storage chip factory in South Korea to meet the growing demand. It is worth noting that SK Hynix is set to announce its first-quarter earnings on Thursday. According to the average expectations compiled by FactSet, the South Korean memory chip manufacturer's net profit for the quarter ending in March is expected to more than double year-on-year, reaching a record 28.109 trillion Korean won. Quarterly revenue is expected to double as well, hitting a record 50.531 trillion Korean won, while operating profit is expected to reach a record 35.765 trillion Korean won. Since the beginning of the year, the company's stock price has risen by nearly 90%.