Merck opens South Korea molybdenum plant to feed memory fabs
The Eumseong facility will manufacture MoO2Cl2 precursor to replace tungsten in 400-layer 3D NAND, pairing chemistry with delivery hardware to boost material efficiency above 99%.
JHBy Ji-woo Han, Korea bureau chief··Updated October 25, 2026·4 min read
ShareLinkedInXWhatsAppEmailA worker in protective cleanroom gear stands beside chemical processing equipment at the molybdenum precursor facility in Eumseong, South Korea. (AI-generated image)
Merck Group opened a dedicated molybdenum precursor production facility in Eumseong, South Korea, on Oct. 22, 2026, establishing local fabrication for materials designed to replace tungsten in ultra-high 3D NAND flash memory.
The site forms part of the German company's €600 million ($674 million) South Korean investment program announced in 2021. The facility targets domestic memory lines that face physical scaling bottlenecks above 300 vertical layers.
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Korea bureau chief — Ji-woo Han leads Korea coverage, working from exchange disclosures, ministry notices and company IR material. She writes most often on memory and advanced packaging.
