On the 14th, British company Edwards held a completion ceremony for a new extreme ultraviolet (EUV) exposure process core component production plant in Asan, South Chungcheong Province.

Edwards, the world's number one company in the production of vacuum pumps for semiconductor manufacturing processes, relocated all of its production facilities in its home country to Korea in 2009. Including the recently completed plant, it has established a total of five plants in Cheonan and Asan.

The expanded production plant will produce integrated vacuum solutions and gas treatment devices for equipment used in the EUV exposure process. It is reported that these will be supplied not only to domestic semiconductor manufacturers such as Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, but also exported to global semiconductor companies such as Intel and TSMC.

It is expected to contribute to stabilizing the supply chain of parts and equipment for the exposure process, a core semiconductor process, and strengthening the competitiveness of domestic parts and equipment production. It is also expected to contribute to our overall economy, including exports worth more than 300 billion won annually and the creation of local jobs.

Choi Woo-suk, director of the Trade and Investment Bureau at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, said, “Edward’s investment this time is also very important in terms of economic security,” and asked, “I hope Edward will play an important role in leading the innovation and future of the Korean semiconductor industry.”