Shulou(Shulou.com)11/24 Report--

With the signing of the US Chip Act, it will provide about $52 billion in government subsidies for US semiconductor research and production, as well as an investment tax credit for chip factories estimated to be worth $24 billion. TECHCET, a research institution, pointed out that the US semiconductor industry should increase its investment in materials in the next step.

According to TECHCET, although US companies have been leading the industry in chip design, manufacturing, fab equipment and advanced materials, investment and government incentives in Asia have reduced the US share in chip and material manufacturing over the past few decades. These Asian investments, coupled with lower costs and lax regulatory policies, have expanded the customer base of materials and equipment used in semiconductor manufacturing in Asia.

At present, some key fab projects in the United States have already started, some of which have just been announced, and there may be more projects to be carried out soon, although this is good news for the US semiconductor industry, but these fab projects, in particular, foundry and memory fabs with advanced processes (such as Intel, TSMC and Micron) will take 2 to 3 years to complete and put into mass production.

In contrast, similar wafer factories in Asia have continued to put into mass production and are growing year by year, so supporting material suppliers have also focused on the Asian market for a long time. In the past few years, many suppliers have announced the establishment of new factories or expansion in major semiconductor production bases such as South Korea, China and Japan. Material suppliers such as DuPont and EMD build facilities near these plants to support state-of-the-art manufacturing processes.

Events such as the global epidemic, the trade war and the conflict between Russia and Ukraine forced each country to examine the vulnerabilities of its own supply chain and to recognise the importance of owning local chip manufacturing and research and development, TECHCET said. But the establishment of new contract factories means that most companies cannot afford huge costs without government support, and the funding and tax breaks of the American Chip Act help to advance these goals, but new contract factories alone will not really solve the shortage problem.

In particular, without materials, chips cannot be made. To this end, Lita Shon-Roy, President and CEO of TECHCET, said that semiconductor manufacturing is a key strategic industry for the national economy and its national security, and so is materials. Although some material investment projects have been announced, as more new contract factories in the United States are put into mass production, the material supply chain is expected to be under pressure to invest heavily in material production and research and development. to strengthen the material supply chain with advanced cutting-edge chemicals and materials.

TECHCET has previously stressed that US chip manufacturing relies heavily on imported high-purity chemicals, especially on high-purity chemicals, silicon wafers and other materials. Any funding and support for chemicals and materials produced in the United States through the United States Chip Act would significantly strengthen the supply chain and reduce the risk of shortages and heavy dependence on imports.

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