As Ukraine is a major supplier of semiconductor raw gas in the world, and nearly 70% of the world's output of neon gas is supplied by Ukraine, the situation between Russia and Ukraine also affects the stability of the global semiconductor industry chain. A spokesman for lithography giant ASML said Wednesday that it was looking for other sources of neon gas supply in case of supply interruption caused by the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Meguiar technology, a US computer storage chip manufacturer, said on Tuesday that the escalation of the crisis in Ukraine highlighted the complexity and vulnerability of the semiconductor supply chain, and some of the gases used for chip production came from Ukraine. On February 24, according to wind data, the domestic chip index fell 2.25%, but domestic electronic special gas concept stocks Huate gas and Kemei gas rose at noon. Some institutions believe that the increasingly complex situation in Russia and Ukraine may impact the inert gas supply in the region. Although it will not cause the interruption of production line in the short term, the reduction of gas supply may still cause the price rise and the semiconductor production cost may rise. A variety of semiconductor raw materials are short-term or impacted Electronic specialty gas is known as the blood of modern electronic industry. It is mainly used in semiconductor, liquid crystal display, crystalline silicon solar cell, optical fiber and other fields. According to Linx consulting, the electronic specialty gas required by the semiconductor market accounts for about 70%, and the demand for liquid crystal display and crystalline silicon solar cells accounts for 20% and 4% respectively. Among them, there are more than 100 kinds of electronic gases required in semiconductors, which are widely used in all links of their production process. According to semi data, the global wafer manufacturing material market in 2019 was about 32.8 billion US dollars, of which the scale of electronic special gas was about 4.3 billion US dollars, accounting for 13%, which is the second largest consumable after silicon wafer. As a major supplier of global semiconductor raw gas, Ukraine is a major supplier of gases including neon, argon, krypton and xenon, among which the supply of neon is the leader of the global market. According to the report released by market research organization techcet on February 1, the global supply share of neon (NE) in Ukraine reaches 70%, while the global supply share of krypton (KR) and xenon (Xe) reaches 40% and 30% respectively. These rare gases can be used in the production of excimer laser light sources in ARF and KrF lithography machines and semiconductor etching respectively, It is mainly used for 250 ~ 130nm mature process of 8-inch wafer. In the view of the industry, if the subsequent conflict between Russia and Ukraine further escalates, it is likely to cause a shortage of relevant rare gases. Jibang consulting believes that the increasingly complex situation in Russia and Ukraine may impact the inert gas supply in the region. Although it will not cause the interruption of production line in the short term, the reduction of gas supply may still cause the price rise and the semiconductor production cost may rise. Inert gas is mainly used in the semiconductor lithography process, in which the link requiring neon is DUV exposure, and neon is the necessary gas in its required mixed gas, which is difficult to replace. However, Ukraine supplies most of the neon gas in the world. Therefore, its regional economic situation is unstable or will affect the stability of the industrial chain and promote the rise of wafer manufacturing costs in stages. In addition, Russian palladium is also an important raw material for semiconductors. It is mainly used in packaging and in the manufacture of sensors and memories. Russia accounts for about 40% of the global palladium supply. Techcet said that semiconductor manufacturers are highly dependent on C4F6 (hexafluorobutadiene), neon, palladium and other special raw materials from Russia and Ukraine. More than 90% of the supply of semiconductor grade neon in the United States comes from Ukraine and 35% of palladium comes from Russia. What is the impact of China's market? Once the situation in Ukraine and Russia worsens, it may exacerbate the supply of neon, krypton, palladium and other materials. According to the data of the US Trade Commission (ITC), neon prices once rose 600% during the tense period of the Crimean Peninsula in 2014. Prior to this, the price of neon has risen sharply. According to the price tracking data of Baichuan Yingfu, the price of neon (content 99.99%) in China has increased from 400 yuan / m3 in October 2021 to more than 1600 yuan / m3 at present. However, some analysts believe that although there are fluctuations in external factors, the recommendation logic for e-commerce remains unchanged. At present, companies with good performance in the first quarter should be selected. At the same time, the conflict between Russia and Ukraine may cause semiconductor gas tension, which is also good for materials. Sumitomo's global manufacturers' layout includes the main producers of electronic special air, including French liquid air, air chemical products, lindlex, Japan Showa electric, Korean Dacheng gas, South Korea SK, Sumitomo Sumitomo, China Taiwan Lianhua industry, etc. Although the electronic specialty gas has many barriers and the industry concentration is relatively high, at present, China has also made technological breakthroughs in many varieties, such as nitrogen trifluoride, ultra pure ammonia and germanium, which are the sub industries with the fastest replacement progress of supporting semiconductor materials made in China, and some electronic specialty gases have gradually realized localization. Guojin Securities believes that if there are subsequent supply risks of neon, krypton and xenon, it will take more than half a year for downstream wafer factories to seek alternative suppliers for verification, which will face new short-term material risks. Domestic KEMET gas and Huate gas can supply lithography gas. KEMET gas supplies relevant rare gases, such as neon, krypton, xenon and mixed gases; Walter gas supplies krypton neon mixture, fluorine neon mixture and other gases for lithography. If the supply of neon and krypton gas in Ukraine is blocked, domestic KEMET gas and Huate gas are expected to benefit. Fang Jing said that at present, dilute mixed lithography gases such as krypton neon mixture and fluorine neon mixture used by Huate gas for semiconductor lithography have been certified by ASML, the world's largest lithography manufacturer. The recent friction in the international and regional situation may aggravate the shortage of rare gas supply. Under the situation of short supply, the performance flexibility of the company can be expected. Due to the shortage of electronic components caused by the surge in demand and limited output growth, the semiconductor industry is more vulnerable to the external environment. At the beginning of 2021, affected by the Japanese earthquake, the production line of Xinyue chemical, the world's largest KrF photoresist manufacturer, was polluted, and the relevant KrF photoresist production line has not resumed production, which has a great impact on the global KrF photoresist supply. While pushing up the cost of the industrial chain, the regional conflict is also increasing the instability of the semiconductor industrial chain. (Xinhua News Agency)