SK Hynix, the world’s second-largest memory chipmaker, said it will advance roughly $1.9 billion in payments to its suppliers ahead of South Korea’s Chuseok holiday, a major autumn festival often described as the Korean equivalent of Thanksgiving. This year, the holiday stretches into a break of up to 10 days, raising concerns about cash-flow pressures for smaller firms.
The move will benefit 506 small- and mid-sized suppliers in SK Hynix’s network. The company said the initiative is designed not only to ease short-term liquidity strains but also to strengthen organizational stability and employee satisfaction across its supply chain.
Since 2020, SK Hynix has increased the frequency of supplier payments from three to four times per month. It also manages around $2.6 billion in “co-prosperity funds,” including $2.5 billion in low-interest financing and $150 million in interest-free support for supplier transactions.
“Maintaining strong relationships with our suppliers is critical for SK Hynix to sustain its leadership in the AI memory market,” said Sung-Han Kim, head of procurement at SK Hynix. “We will continue to build trust and collaboration to secure competitiveness in the AI era.”
The announcement underscores how South Korea’s conglomerates are leveraging their supply networks to remain resilient amid rising global demand for high-performance chips that power artificial intelligence systems.
