South Korea begins local production of nanotechnology-backed filters for chips

Seoul (The Uttam Hindu): South Korea's industry ministry said on Tuesday the country has kicked off its first domestic production of filters using nanotechnology, paving the way for the self-supply of a critical product needed to produce semiconductors. The production began at the factory of Synopex Inc. in Dongtan, 40 kilometers south of Seoul, with a capacity that is sufficient to meet the entire domestic demand, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

South Korea has been relying entirely on imports for the material, with annual demand estimated at 8,000 units or 100 billion won ($69.5 million), the ministry said, reports YOnhap news agency. The government allocated 12.3 billion won for the project in line with efforts to accelerate research projects aimed at supporting the materials, parts and equipment industries and stabiliszing supply chains. The filters produced by Synopex will be used in chip production by Samsung Electronics Co. and SK hynix Inc., the ministry added.

"The government will continue to roll out investment in research and development projects for cutting-edge industries to secure a stable supply chain," said Industry Policy Deputy Minister Lee Seung-ryeol. Meanwhile, South Korea's semiconductor exports face growing threats from China, Taiwan and Malaysia amid intensifying global competition in advanced industries. The report from the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency, better known as KOTRA, on the export similarity index (ESI) for semiconductors showed China as being South Korea's top competitor in the sector, with an ESI score of 72.2 in the third quarter of the year.

Taiwan's ESI with South Korea in semiconductors rose significantly, increasing 7.6 points over four years to reach 32.5, the largest growth among major semiconductor exporters. Malaysia's ESI increased 6 points to 50.5 over the same period, marking the second-highest growth after Taiwan. KOTRA noted that Malaysia has emerged as a notable competitor, ranking fifth globally in semiconductor exports and handling 13 per cent of the world's semiconductor assembly, testing and packaging processes.