According to market research in the United States, neon, krypton, and xenon are all key materials in exposure and etching processes in the semiconductor industry. Among them, 70% of global demand for neon, 40% of krypton, and 30% of xenon are supplied by Ukraine. Therefore, if a war erupts in Ukraine, the global semiconductor industry will be subject to fluctuations. Some people may be confused about this, but will it have an impact on our country?
It is understood that over 90% of the neon used in the US semiconductor industry comes from Ukraine, and 35% of palladium is imported from Russia. In the tense atmosphere where the situation between Russia and Ukraine is imminent, the United States has also begun to consider the possible risks to the semiconductor supply chain. The White House has issued a warning, hoping that American chip companies can quickly find alternative sources of these materials, promote supply chain diversification, and prevent Russia from posing a threat to the US semiconductor industry.
Regarding this issue, senior analysts in China's special gas market have stated that as a global steel power, China has made breakthroughs in the purification technology of certain rare gases, and its production industry is already quite mature, so it is not worried about being "stuck". Even if the supply chain in Ukraine is disrupted in certain extreme situations, China is fully capable of organizing emergency production to ensure domestic supply.
Furthermore, countries that are more tense about the situation in Russia and Ukraine should be Japan, South Korea, the United States, and other countries. There's no need to say more about it, let's mainly talk about Japan and South Korea. The amount of rare gases that can be produced domestically in Japan is very small, with the vast majority relying on China and Ukraine for imports. As for South Korea, it was not until early 2022 that it achieved nationalized production of neon gas, which had previously relied solely on imports. However, at the current level in South Korea, only about 22000 cubic meters of high-purity neon gas can be produced annually, which is estimated to only meet 16% of South Korea's demand.
The 2015 Ukrainian crisis has already provided a clear example, when the price of neon gas went straight out of a parabolic curve, rapidly rising from 750 yuan per cubic meter at the beginning to 25000 yuan per cubic meter, and later falling back to 3000 yuan per cubic meter. From previous experience, it can be seen that once the situation between Russia and Ukraine becomes tense or conflicts erupt, the supply chain of the global semiconductor market will also encounter problems, and the United States may ultimately harm others and ultimately harm itself.
