Samsung Electronics Co. 4GB Double-Data-Rate 3 memory module, top, and a 8GB DDR 3 memory modules are arranged for a photograph in Seoul, South Korea, on Tuesday, July 9, 2019. Picture: SEONGJOON CHO / BLOOMBERG
The move by the two chipmakers to secure supplies of hydrogen fluoride comes after Japan said earlier in July that it would tighten curbs on exports of high-tech materials used in smartphone displays and chips to South Korea, threatening to disrupt the global supply of microchips consumed by the likes of Apple and Huawei Technologies.
The official declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter. Samsung and SK Hynix declined to comment on whether such requests were made.