Critini analyst: High purity CO2 used in semiconductors is in urgent need, Samsung Hynix is stepping up its efforts to grab goods, and remaining inventory has fallen below the one month red line BlockBeats News: On June 28th, Critini Research analyst Jukan cited industry news that a warning signal has been raised regarding the procurement of high-purity carbon dioxide used in advanced semiconductor processes. The root cause of the problem is not the demand side, but the sharp decline in upstream raw material CO2 production. Due to the decline in operating rates of refining and petrochemical plants, the production of CO2 raw materials as by-products has significantly decreased. Semiconductor manufacturers and suppliers usually hold about two weeks of inventory each, totaling about one month's usage, but the industry generally believes that current inventory has fallen below this red line. Industry data shows that Samsung Electronics consumes about 1800 to 2000 tons of high-purity CO2 per month, while SK Hynix consumes about 600 to 700 tons per month. Although the production of both companies has not been interrupted, the inventory buffer is continuously narrowing, and procurement efforts have significantly increased. Even if prices are raised, it is difficult to lock in additional supply in a short period of time, as the shortage of upstream raw materials constitutes a physical hard constraint. The price of liquefied CO2 has risen by about 20% since the beginning of the year, and the industry expects the tight supply situation to continue until the end of the year. The main high-purity CO2 suppliers in South Korea include Taekyung Chemical, Sundo Chemical, Dongkwang Chemical, and SK Air Plus, among which Taekyung Chemical is recognized as the industry leader. High purity CO2 is widely used in the supercritical cleaning process of advanced manufacturing processes. In the supercritical state, CO2 has both liquid like solubility and gas like permeability, and can penetrate deep into the gaps of extremely fine patterns to remove residues and pollutants. This is particularly important for advanced chips with narrow pattern spacing and large step height differences. CO2 raw materials come from by-products of refining, petrochemicals, and hydrogen production processes. The unstable supply and demand of crude oil caused by the US Iran conflict and the situation in the Middle East have led to a decrease in the operating rate of domestic petrochemical plants, which has directly transmitted to the semiconductor materials sector. As material experts have pointed out, "Following helium, anhydrous hydrofluoric acid, and PGMEA, CO2 has also been problematic, and the risk of Middle Eastern crude oil is repeatedly spilling over into the semiconductor materials field, meaning that the material supply chain is deeply intertwined with the by-products of refining and petrochemicals. [Original link]