Dutch chip equipment manufacturer ASML reportedly committed to ramping its facilities to support major customers in North Asia, with executives visiting Seoul and Taipei to outline its capacity expansion plans.

The Korea Herald reported ASML is injecting KRW240 billion ($183.2 million) into a 16,000 square-metre repair and training centre in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi province, near Samsung’s chip factory.

ASML CEO Peter Wennink was in Seoul for the groundbreaking ceremony on 16 November, with the facility scheduled to come on line at the end of 2024.

In Taipei, ASML COO Frederic Schneider-Maunoury unveiled plans to make its largest investment in Taiwan, with a new facility to support international customers and chip development, Taipei Times reported.

ASML operates five plants and an ultraviolet lithography training centre in Taiwan, employing more than 4,500.

At an investor day meeting earlier in the month, ASML said it plans to increase its annual capacity to 90 ultraviolet lithography systems and 600 deep ultraviolet in 2025 and 2026, up from a target of 70 and 375 announced in September 2021.

Taiwan is ASML’s largest market, accounting for about 40 per cent of total sales, with Samsung and rival SK Hynix taking more than a third.

The visits come a month after the US tightened restrictions of the sale of advanced chipmaking equipment and software to China, requiring manufacturers to obtain a licence from the Department of Commerce to export certain goods produced outside the country.

A month ago, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co and SK Hynix secured one-year waivers to import advanced chip equipment for their factories in mainland China.