WALES' biggest empty factory, the former LG Semicon site at Newport, is likely to be sold on again.

It is understood it is being sold to US microelectronics firm Micron by current owners Hynix.

The plant, one half of the development promised by South Korean firm LG, has never been used for production. After LG was hit by a recession in the semiconductor industry and a slump in the Far East economy, it continued with its electronics factory on the site but sold the semicon factory to Hynix.

LG Electronics - now LG Philips - and LG Semicon were to have created 6,000 jobs between them on their Imperial Park site, but only 2,300 are employed at the electronics factory, making cathode ray tubes for television.

The fate of the semicon building has been monitored by the Welsh Development Agency, but it said this morning that it was not involved in the deal between Hynix and Micron.

This morning, Micron signed a tentative pact worth about $3.4 billion to buy most of the assets of Hynix in a move that would reshape the world memory chip market.

If the purchase goes through, US-based Micron would become the world's largest memory chip maker.

The deal gives the two companies and Hynix's creditors until April 30 to finalise a pact.