South Korean chemical and tech materials firm SKC said Monday it would mass produce mask blanks this year, tackling the key material’s heavy reliance on Japanese suppliers.

SKC, an affiliate of memory chip giant SK hynix, is testing a prototype of a high-end mask blank -- a core material for semiconductor production that relies 90 percent on Japanese supplies -- with domestic firms and will begin the mass production of the material in the second of this year, according to the company.

A mask blank is a substrate for a photomask, a glass plate onto which a circuit pattern is drawn. Together, they make a master plate used to transfer the minute, highly complex circuit patterns for semiconductors onto the wafers that become IC chips.

Mask blanks have been included in Korea’s list of 20 key materials, parts and equipment for which it most relies on Japan.

SKC invested 43 billion won ($39.4 million) in a new mask blank plant in 2018 and completed the construction last year. The plant is expected to mass produce more advanced materials starting 2021.

By Kim Byung-wook (kbw@heraldcorp.com)