Tungsten Hexafluoride Price Surges Over 200% Amid Supply Shortages and Chip Demand
L'essentiel
- The price of high-purity tungsten hexafluoride has surged over 200% year-on-year to over 1,700 yuan ($251) per kg due to supply bottlenecks and rising demand from the semiconductor industry.
- Japanese producers Showa Denko Kanto and Central Glass plan production suspensions in July, potentially disrupting supply to major chipmakers like Samsung Electronics.
Résumé généré par IA
Pourquoi c'est important
The price of tungsten hexafluoride has seen a dramatic increase due to supply chain issues and growing demand from the semiconductor industry, which relies on it for advanced AI chip manufacturing.
The price of tungsten hexafluoride has jumped more than 200 per cent year on year because of supply bottlenecks, coupled with rising chip demand, market data showed.
The gas is a critical precursor in the semiconductor industry, where it is used to develop the microscopic connections inside advanced AI chips built on 3- to 7-nanometre processing nodes.
The latest available data on Tuesday showed the price of five-nines tungsten hexafluoride – meaning 99.999 per cent purity – stood at more than 1,700 yuan (US$251) per kg, triple that of a year earlier, according to ibuychem, a Guangzhou-based industry portal.
Showa Denko Kanto and Central Glass – two major Japanese producers of specialty gases used in semiconductor manufacturing – were planning to suspend production in July as inventories dwindled, according to an earlier report by The Elec, an electronics industry media outlet in South Korea.
The firms had notified major chip manufacturers, including Samsung Electronics and DB HiTek, of potential disruptions, according to the report.
Tungsten powder – the raw material used to produce tungsten hexafluoride – accounted for more than 60 per cent of the gas’s production costs, the note’s authors said.
À surveiller
Perspective IA — des possibilités, pas des certitudes
Further price increases for tungsten hexafluoride.
Probable · Court terme
Questions ouvertes
- Will production suspensions be extended?
- What are the alternative precursors for chip manufacturing?
- How will this impact overall chip prices?
