chemical · input
High-purity fluorine-based gases used in plasma etch and chamber-clean processes. Japan supplies ~70% of global HF; Korea supplies NF₃ via SK Materials/Linde Korea. Japan restricted HF exports to Korea in 2019, briefly disrupting Samsung/SK Hynix production.
0
Source countries
2
Companies
4
Goods affected
0
Claims on record
What depends on it
4 essential American goods rely on semiconductor etch gases (nf₃, hf, wf₆) somewhere upstream in their supply chain.
Digital
Memory and storage chips
DRAM and NAND flash memory used in every digital device; prices swing with Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron output.
Digital
Semiconductors and chips
Integrated circuits, microcontrollers, and chips embedded in vehicles, appliances, and electronics.
Digital
Specialty chips
Automotive, medical, industrial, and defense semiconductors on legacy nodes with long design cycles.
Digital
Specialty gases for chip fabrication
Ultra-high-purity helium, neon, krypton, and argon used in semiconductor lithography, cleaning, and etching.
Who makes it
2 companies produce semiconductor etch gases (nf₃, hf, wf₆).
South Korean specialty gas company, subsidiary of SK Group (better known for SK Hynix chips). World's largest NF3 producer with >40% global market share. First Korean company to domestically produce NF3 (2001). Supplies Samsung, SK Hynix, and global foundries.
Japan's largest and world's fifth-largest industrial gas company. MATHESON rebranded to Nippon Sanso MATHESON in April 2026. Particularly strong in electronics-grade specialty gases: NF3, WF6, SiH4, GeH4 for semiconductor fabs.
