Hydrogen Fluoride (HF)

Mexican diversified industrial company (BMV: ORBIA, HQ Mexico City; ~$8.5B revenue); Koura division (formerly Mexichem Fluor) is the world's largest fluorspar and HF producer by volume, with fluorspar mines in Mexico (San Luis Potosi state) and HF production plants in Mexico (Pajaritos, Veracruz), the UK (Runcorn), and elsewhere. Mexico's fluorspar reserves (acid-grade fluorite, CaF2) — among the world's largest, concentrated in San Luis Potosi and Durango states — feed Koura's HF production, making it uniquely vertically integrated from mine to HF. Mexico is the world's largest fluorspar exporter (~25% of global supply), and Koura controls a significant fraction of that production. Orbia is also a major PVC pipe (Amanco brand) and precision irrigation company — a diversified conglomerate where HF chemistry sits alongside water infrastructure.

Belgian specialty chemical company (Euronext: SOLB, HQ Brussels; ~€4.9B revenue after 2023 split); major global HF (hydrogen fluoride) producer and the world's largest producer of fluorine-based specialty chemicals. Solvay's HF is produced at multiple European sites (Dombasle-sur-Meurthe, France; Rosignano, Italy) via reaction of fluorspar (CaF2) with sulfuric acid. HF is the gateway chemical for Solvay's entire fluorine chemistry chain: HF → fluoropolymers (PTFE, PVDF), refrigerants (HFCs/HFOs), specialty fluorinated gases (NF3 precursor), and electronic-grade HF for semiconductors. Solvay split into two companies in December 2023 — the new 'Solvay' retained the specialty chemicals (including HF and fluorine) while 'Syensqo' retained the advanced materials — so the HF supply chain is now within the post-split Solvay entity. Solvay was founded in 1863 by Ernest Solvay, inventor of the Solvay process for soda ash (sodium carbonate) production — the same Belgian industrial dynasty that revolutionized 19th-century chemical manufacturing now controls a critical node in 21st-century semiconductor supply chains.

American industrial conglomerate (Nasdaq: HON, HQ Charlotte NC; ~$36B revenue); Advanced Materials division produces HF and a range of fluorinated specialty chemicals at Geismar Louisiana (one of the world's largest HF and fluoropolymer production sites). Honeywell's Geismar LA facility is a major supplier of HF to industrial and specialty chemical markets, as well as fluorinated refrigerants (Solstice series HFOs) and NF3 precursor HF. Honeywell's fluorine chemistry heritage traces to AlliedSignal (merged with Honeywell 1999) which itself acquired the fluorine chemistry business of Allied Chemical — which owned the original US fluorspar-to-HF process patents dating to the Manhattan Project era, when HF was needed for uranium enrichment (UF6 gaseous diffusion). The same US HF production infrastructure built for nuclear weapons development now supplies semiconductor-grade fluorinated gases.

Japanese electronic-grade specialty chemical company (TSE: 4109, HQ Osaka; ~¥50B revenue); producer of ultra-high purity hydrogen fluoride (electronic grade, 5N to 7N+ purity — 99.999% to 99.99999%) used in semiconductor wet etching processes (HF etches silicon dioxide — SiO2 — in a highly controlled manner to pattern silicon chips). Stella Chemifa's electronic-grade HF is the standard product for Japanese semiconductor manufacturers (Renesas, Toshiba Memory/Kioxia, Sony Semiconductor) and exports to Korean (Samsung, SK Hynix) and Taiwanese (TSMC) fabs. In 2019, when Japan restricted exports of semiconductor-grade fluorinated compounds to South Korea, Stella Chemifa was one of the three Japanese companies affected by the export controls (alongside Sumitomo Chemical and JSR). Samsung reportedly had enough Stella Chemifa HF inventory for approximately 1-2 months of production when Japan imposed the restrictions.

Belgian phosphate chemicals company with 140+ years of history (1882) and 1,400 employees. Produces purified phosphoric acids, phosphate salts (including food-grade STPP), and fluorine products at sites in Belgium, France, USA, and Switzerland. Prayon's wet-process phosphoric acid technology is used to produce over 50% of the world's merchant-grade phosphoric acid — making it the critical licensor of the key manufacturing technology behind the global phosphate supply chain. In August 2024, Prayon acquired Natural Enrichment Industries to strengthen its US footprint. Also a member of the European Sustainable Phosphorus Platform.