Industrial gas company Air Liquide has signed a long-term contract with SK Hynix to supply gases for semiconductor processes. It includes infrastructure investment to support packaging processes related to the production of High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) for AI.

Air Liquide announced on the 3rd that it has signed a long-term supply contract with SK Hynix and will invest approximately 200 million euros (about 300 billion won).

The investment target is SK Hynix's new packaging and test plant, 'P&T7,' located in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province.

■ Construction of gas production facilities at the Cheongju semiconductor plant

Under this agreement, Air Liquide plans to construct and operate a nitrogen production facility near the plant.

The facility aims to begin operation by the end of 2027.

The factory is responsible for the advanced packaging of HBM chips, a core component of AI semiconductors.

Air Liquide plans to supply ultra-high purity gas and compressed air to this location.

High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) is a high-performance memory used for AI computation, and the semiconductor packaging process is considered a highly important field.

■ Expansion of AI Semiconductor Supply Chain and Regional Investment

Air Liquide announced that it is expanding its production base in Korea through this project.

The company is already operating several production facilities in the Cheongju Industrial Complex and plans to expand its related business areas with this investment.

In addition, this contract was described as one of the business achievements secured since the acquisition of industrial gas company DIG Airgas.

Air Liquide stated that it has strengthened its domestic infrastructure and customer base through the acquisition.

Air Liquide stated that this agreement is related to expanding cooperation within the global semiconductor supply chain.

A company official explained, “We plan to continue investing in and cooperating with the Korean market and the semiconductor industry.”.