SK Hynix’s Export in Q1 Amounts to 8.2 Tril. Won, Marking a 27% Increase YoY

SK Hynix’s semiconductor plants in Icheon City, Gyeonggi Province, and Cheongju City, Chungbuk Province achieved an impressive export value of approximately 8.2783 trillion won (approximately $5.7 billion) in the first quarter according to the Korea Customs Service on April 15. This marks a 27% increase from last year’s first-quarter export value. The surge is attributed to growing demand for HBM driven by AI market expansion despite ongoing trade tensions initiated during the Trump administration.

The export value of “multi-chip integrated circuits” to Taiwan alone accounted for 48% of SK Hynix’s total memory export value for the first quarter, indicating strong collaboration with TSMC. The multi-chip integrated circuit category includes HBM, which was combined with GPUs at TSMC.

Cheongju’s flash memory export value was only 10%, suggesting that its latest plant, M15, is actively engaged in HBM post-processing rather than NAND flash manufacturing. This aligns with SK Hynix’s focus on maintaining its leadership in the global HBM market and its noteworthy cooperation with NVIDIA.

SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won and SK Hynix President Kwak No-jung recently visited Taiwan to meet with senior officials from TSMC, the world’s largest foundry company. Their discussions centered on enhancing cooperation in the supply of high-bandwidth memory (HBM), a critical component for high-performance computing applications. This visit underscores SK Hynix’s strategic focus on strengthening its position in the global semiconductor market.