South Korean companies have been accelerating efforts to domestically produce key industrial materials ever since Japan implemented export regulations last year.

SK Group says its affiliate SK Materials has begun the mass production of hydrogen fluoride gas that has an ultra-high purity of over 99-point-nine percent.

Ultra-high purity hydrogen fluoride was one of the high-tech materials Japan imposed export restrictions on. It is an etching gas used in manufacturing chips. Despite a surge in demand, Korea was nearly completely dependent on imports.

SK Materials successfully developed a prototype late last year and built a production facility with a 15 ton capacity at its factory in Yeongju, North Gyeongsang Province.The company aims to raise the ratio of localization for hydrogen fluoride to 70 percent by 2023.

It has also begun to develop other high value-added chemicals such as spin-on-carbon (SOC) hardmask and argon fluoride (ArF) photoresist.