SK geo centric breaks ground on high-purity semiconductor cleaner production plant

SK geo centric, SK Innovation's wholly owned chemical subsidiary, broke ground in Ulsan for a high-purity semiconductor cleaner production plant on Monday.

Fourth from left, to right: SK geo centric CEO Na Kyung-soo; Ulsan Vice Mayor Jang Su-wan; Tokuyama President Hiroshi Yokota during a groundbreaking ceremony held at SK's Ulsan Complex, Monday. [SK GEO CENTRIC]

SK geo centric, SK Innovation’s wholly owned chemical subsidiary, broke ground in Ulsan for a high-purity semiconductor cleaner production plant on Monday.

Tokuyama, a Japanese chemical company, and SK geo centric established a 50-50 joint venture named STAC for the project last December, with combined investments worth 120 billion won ($92 million).

STAC will oversee the construction of the 20,000-square-meter (215,278-square-foot) production plant, which is scheduled to be completed by 2023 and begin commercial operation in 2024. SK geo centric estimates the project will create about 5,000 new jobs directly and indirectly from construction through product marketing.

SK geo centric will oversee the raw material procurement, operation management and marketing, while Tokuyama provides manufacturing technologies.

Located in Nam District, Ulsan, the new production plant will manufacture 30,000 tons of high-purity isopropyl alcohol a year, according to SK geo centric.

Isopropyl alcohol is a solvent used in cleaning wafers during the semiconductor production process. The global isopropyl alcohol market volume was estimated at $4.3 billion in 2021, and is forecast to grow 4.1 percent a year to reach $5.4 billion by 2027, according to Research and Markets.

SK geo centric added that the eco-friendly manufacturing method using waste and energy consumption reduction facilities will be adopted at the Ulsan plant.

“The chemical companies that each represent Korea and Japan came together to co-produce a core material in the semiconductor industry,” said Na Kyung-soo, SK geo centric CEO. “The two companies will continue to work closely together to succeed in both production and marketing of high-quality products.”

Tokuyama President Hiroshi Yokota said during the groundbreaking ceremony that “we highly appreciate the partnership with SK geo centric and will actively participate in Korea’s fast-growing high-purity isopropyl alcohol market with Tokuyama’s technological capability.”

A spokesperson for the Ulsan Metropolitan City said that Ulsan will “actively support the two companies in creating synergy in the domestic high-purity isopropyl alcohol market through the joint project,” adding that “we hope this groundbreaking ceremony to be able to encourage investments amid the global economic slowdown.”

The groundbreaking ceremony held in Ulsan on Monday was attended by Na, Yokota and Jang Su-wan, Ulsan vice mayor for administrative affairs.

BY SHIN HA-NEE [shin.hanee@joongang.co.kr]