SK hynix Seeks US Approval for More Chip Tools at Its China Plant, Reuters Says

On October 14, 2026, Reuters reported that SK hynix is seeking US approval to ship more American chipmaking tools to its plant in Dalian, China. The report cited two unnamed people familiar with the matter. The plant makes NAND flash, the memory chips that store data in solid-state drives. The sources tied the request to a possible NAND factory in the United States, to be built by Solidigm, SK hynix's US subsidiary. SK hynix says it is not seeking to expand capacity at the section of the plant involved.

What is SK hynix asking for?

The request concerns Mod B, a section of the Dalian site that SK hynix told TechCrunch was completed in 2023. One person told Reuters its equipment buildout was never finished because of a memory market downturn. Two of the sources said Mod B has some chipmaking tools, with room for many more. According to Reuters, Solidigm wants to install new equipment in that unused space to make NAND chips.

One person told Reuters that Solidigm has applied for an export license to buy more tools for Mod B. Tom's Hardware reported that Washington has not yet authorized the shipments. The Dalian site relies on equipment from US suppliers Applied Materials, KLA and Lam Research. Sending such tools to China requires a US license.

Reuters reported that the 2026 US license for Dalian, issued in December 2025, limited the quantity of equipment. One person said no license for more US equipment in 2027 had been issued yet. A source also said extra output from China would help Solidigm fund a US plant, as TrendForce noted in its summary.

SK hynix gave Tom's Hardware a statement on October 16. It said it complies with the laws and regulations of all relevant jurisdictions. It said no capacity expansion is being sought for Mod B. It said the equipment is being installed in close consultation with the US government and under its authorization. Tom's Hardware argued that filling a building finished in 2023 would not count as a capacity expansion. That is the outlet's view, not a US ruling.

Why does the Dalian plant need US permission?

SK hynix agreed in October 2020 to buy Intel's NAND flash and storage business, including the Dalian plant. It paid $6.6 billion in December 2021 and $2.2 billion in March 2025. That is according to its US stock offering prospectus, dated July 9, 2026. It runs the business under the Solidigm brand.

In October 2022, the Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) added license requirements for items bound for some chip fabs in China. The prospectus says SK hynix first received a one-year permission to keep supplying its China plants. In October 2023, BIS designated it a Validated End-User (VEU).

VEU status let approved facilities receive listed US items under a general authorization. Their suppliers did not need a separate license for each shipment, the Federal Register notice explains. For SK hynix's China fabs, that arrangement ended on December 31, 2025. The BIS rule, published September 2, 2025, removed three entries from the China VEU list:

• Intel Semiconductor (Dalian) Ltd
• Samsung China Semiconductor Co. Ltd
• SK hynix Semiconductor (China) Ltd

BIS estimated the change would bring an additional 1,000 license applications a year. It said it planned to license former VEU holders to keep running their existing fabs in China, Export Compliance Daily reported. But BIS said it did not intend to license capacity expansion or technology upgrades at those fabs.

BIS replaced VEU status with an annual approval system, SK hynix says in its prospectus. The company must submit a yearly plan for the US equipment it expects to need. BIS granted it an annual license for 2026 in December 2025. Samsung received one too, Reuters reported on December 30, 2025.

The upgrade limit shapes what Dalian can make. In 3D NAND, memory cells are stacked vertically in layers, the prospectus explains. Solidigm's NAND has 192 layers, while SK hynix has reached 321 and 375 layers, Blocks & Files reported. It said US export restrictions block any upgrade to the latest NAND technology in China.

What is the US factory linked to the request?

On September 18, 2026, Reuters reported that Solidigm was weighing a NAND factory in the United States. It cited three people familiar with the matter. It named upstate New York as a leading candidate site, in a report carried by The Standard. Reuters said the plan was separate from SK hynix's talks with Intel about making memory chips at Intel's Ohio facility.

An SK hynix spokesperson said then that Solidigm was reviewing various options and nothing had been finalized, Blocks & Files reported. None of the reports gave an investment amount, size or schedule for the factory.

Solidigm may also sell shares to the public. TechCrunch, citing an October 7 Bloomberg report, said Solidigm is reportedly preparing for a 2027 US stock listing. It said the listing could raise about $10 billion. One of Reuters' sources said the money could help pay for the US factory.

Why does this matter?

The request sits between two US aims. Since 2022, Washington has limited chipmaking tool exports to China on national security grounds. At the same time, the Trump administration is pressing SK hynix to expand manufacturing in the United States, Reuters reported in September.

Memory is also in short supply. Heavy spending on AI data centers has caused an acute shortage of memory chips, Reuters reported. On September 30, 2026, TrendForce projected that NAND flash contract prices would rise 15% to 20% in the fourth quarter from the third. The site's explainer on why memory prices are so high covers the wider shortage.

SK hynix flags the yearly licenses as a risk to investors. Its prospectus warns that failing to get the required licenses on time could materially affect its manufacturing in China.

What happens next?

The Commerce Department did not respond to Reuters' request for comment. The main open question is whether any 2027 approval for Dalian will cover new tools for Mod B, and how many. Reuters' sources described US approval as a condition for continuing with the US factory plan, TechCrunch reported.

A separate US export rule also faces a deadline. The Affiliates Rule extends Entity List restrictions to companies at least 50 percent owned by listed parties. A Federal Register stay suspended it until November 9, 2026, absent an extension. On September 24, 2026, a US official said the suspension would be extended along with the US-China trade truce. Export Compliance Daily reported the comment. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the truce now runs through January 10, 2027. As of that September 25 report, BIS had not said when it would publish a notice moving the date. The US-China chip export controls timeline follows that date and other scheduled changes.