# 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%.*

**Published:** October 26, 2026  
**By:** Ji-woo Han  
**Section:** Semiconductors & AI Hardware — South Korea  
**Format:** Breaking  
**Confidence:** medium  
**Source:** https://eastasiabrief.com/semiconductors/merck-opens-south-korea-molybdenum-plant-feed-memory-fabs-930  
**Publisher:** East Asia Brief (https://eastasiabrief.com/)

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## What to know

- Merck opens Eumseong molybdenum plant to replace tungsten in 400-layer 3D NAND
- Samsung and SK hynix control over 58% of global NAND supply exposed to the transition
- Commercial high-volume wafer production for 400-layer NAND begins in 2027

![A worker in protective cleanroom gear stands beside chemical processing equipment at the molybdenum precursor facility in Eumseong, South Korea. (AI-generated image)](https://eastasiabrief.com/media/2026-10-25-42820f6f12ca.webp)
*A 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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Cite as: East Asia Brief, "Merck opens South Korea molybdenum plant to feed memory fabs," October 26, 2026. https://eastasiabrief.com/semiconductors/merck-opens-south-korea-molybdenum-plant-feed-memory-fabs-930