(Associated Press via NewsEdge) Hynix Semiconductor, the world's second-largest memory chip manufacturer, said it will close its only US factory amid changes in production standards and steep price declines buffeting the industry.
Hynix said in a statement that production at the facility in Eugene, Oregon, would cease by the end of September.
Park Seong-ae, a Hynix spokeswoman, said the manufacturing plant was established in 1998 and employs about 1,200 people, including 150 Koreans.
The company said it may continue to utilize the facility for a 'similar business,' though did not elaborate.
Other options included selling the equipment, building and land to another semiconductor manufacturer, or selling the land and building and relocating the equipment.
'As soon as decisions are finalized, the company will communicate plans to the Eugene community and Oregon government leaders,' Hynix said.
Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski said the state would deploy a 'rapid response team' to assist laid-off workers.
Hynix is one of Lane County's biggest employers, with an annual payroll of $62 million.
The city and Lane County granted millions of dollars in property-tax waivers to entice the South Korean firm, then known as Hyundai, to build its $1.4 billion plant in west Eugene. The tax breaks were a source of controversy from the day the company announced in May 1995 that it would build the plant here.
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