Air Liquide's $170M SK Hynix Investment, and Why Jasper Rubber's Restart Isn't a Green Light Yet

Two announcements this week look unrelated but carry the same warning: supplier reliability timelines are longer than headlines suggest. Air Liquide will invest more than $170 million to build and operate two on-site ultra-pure gas production units at SK hynix's West Lafayette semiconductor fab, targeting commissioning at end of 2028 under a long-term build-own-operate contract. High Bandwidth Memory packaging is more gas-intensive than standard DRAM, and cryogenic and gas-purity technicians are already a thin labor pool nationally. West Lafayette area employers should expect wage pressure on that skillset well before first chip production.

On the supply chain side, a federal bankruptcy court approved the $8.03 million sale of Jasper Rubber Products to Jasper Acquisition Co. on July 2, with Fort Wayne-based Press-Seal Corporation as guarantor. The Skinner family plans a summer restart and intends to prioritize rehiring from the 345 workers who received WARN notices in February. VP of Sales Todd Krapf put it plainly: the goal is to earn back "the business that walked out the door during the bankruptcy." That's a 12-to-18-month OEM re-qualification window, minimum. If Jasper Rubber was in your supply chain, your backup source decision is already overdue.