Russia and Ukraine have declared war on each other. Following a barrage of air attacks on various cities and military bases, invading Russian forces are closing in on Ukraine’s capital.
Because of the looming threat of an economic downturn and supply constraints, the effects of this war will reverberate into other industries as well. As a result, top chipmakers such as TSMC and UMC are actively reviewing their supply of critical industrial gases due to supply disruption concerns.
This is due to the fact that Ukraine and Russia are major suppliers of noble gases and precious metals used in chip manufacturing. Ukraine controls roughly 70% of the world’s supply of Neon, a critical noble gas used in chip manufacturing. As a result, supply constraints in that region will have serious consequences.
This could worsen the global chip shortage, especially since TSMC supplies almost all of the world’s leading chip developers, including Apple, Google, Qualcomm, and Nvidia. UMC, on the other hand, provides chips to Samsung, Qualcomm, and a number of other companies.
TSMC and UMC, the world’s largest and fourth-largest chipmakers, met recently with their key gas suppliers to ensure continued supply in the near future.
These meetings took place shortly after Russia launched its invasion. The information comes from a variety of industry sources who are well-versed in the subject.
Since the pandemic, the two companies have been researching alternative sources of such gases.
One of the world’s largest memory chip manufacturers, SK Hynix, has stated that it has a sufficient supply of Neon. The CEO of the company stated that there was “no need to worry too much about this because we have prepared for this well in advance.”
Nonetheless, in the aftermath of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the company is working to diversify its gas supply.
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