Merck opens Korean plant for molybdenum chip material

Merck, the German science and technology company, opened a chip materials plant in Eumseong County, North Chungcheong Province, South Korea, on Thursday, October 22, according to The Korea Herald and The Korea Times.

The site produces molybdenum dioxide dichloride, a chemical that chipmakers use to lay down ultrathin metal films, The Korea Herald reported. That film-forming step is called deposition, and The Korea Times placed the plant’s output among the materials used in it.

A nearby source of molybdenum for memory makers

Chipmakers are turning to molybdenum as they build more advanced memory chips, and the plant gives that metal a local source, The Korea Herald reported. The Herald said the output is meant for customers in South Korea and in other parts of Asia, home to many of the companies that make DRAM and NAND.

Merck frames the site as part of a wider role in Korea’s chip industry, according to The Korea Times. The company also ties it to a local-for-local supply chain, a setup in which materials are produced close to the chipmakers that consume them, The Korea Times reported.

Korea’s chip export gauges in September

The opening comes as Bank of Korea figures show memory prices far above last year’s level. South Korea’s export price index for DRAM, in US dollars (2020=100), was 289.16 in September 2026. That was 247.72% higher than a year earlier and 2.26% above August. The index tracks memory-chip prices in general, not any single company’s.

The country’s export value index for semiconductors (2020=100) reached 733.03 in September. It was up 268.08% from a year earlier and 29.42% from August.

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Information only, not investment advice.