The supply-demand relationship is tightening, and the price of semiconductor wafers may rise again

On April 6, the Flushing Semiconductor Materials sector rose 0.43%, and Sinochip Technology’s daily limit, and many stocks rose. According to the agency, the surge in demand for terminal products has driven the rapid growth of wafer production in wafer fabs, which has promoted the tightening of the supply and demand relationship of silicon wafers, and the price of semiconductor silicon wafers may rise again.

Recently, the semiconductor silicon wafer manufacturer Shin-Etsu Chemical issued an announcement stating that the price of silicon-containing products will increase by 10%-20% from April. In addition, Leon Micro and Shanghai Silicon Industry have also announced product price adjustments. As early as the end of last year, the silicon wafer giant Global Crystal had raised its spot prices in an all-round way. Its chairman Xu Xiulan once said that the demand for multi-size silicon wafers is full and the rise is expected to continue in 2021.

As the material with the largest proportion in semiconductor manufacturing, the demand for silicon wafers has been rising in recent years. SEMI previously predicted that global silicon wafer shipments in 2020 will reach 11.96 billion square inches, an increase of 2.4% year-on-year; it is expected to continue to grow in 2021.

Soochow Securities said that the global semiconductor market is in short supply, and the contradiction between supply and demand has been transmitted from the foundry field to the upstream silicon wafer link. In recent years, although global silicon wafer production capacity has expanded but its scope is limited, the surge in demand for terminal products has driven the rapid growth of wafer production in wafer fabs, resulting in a misalignment of silicon wafer supply and demand. According to the forecast of SUMCO's annual report, in the first quarter of 2021, 12-inch silicon wafers driven by logic chips will continue to be in short supply, and 8-inch silicon wafers will continue to be in short supply due to the rapid growth of automotive electronics and other applications.

Tianfeng Securities believes that the continued expansion of the supply and demand gap will drive the price of silicon wafers to further increase. Especially after industry giants announce price increases, it will drive the industry to develop upward. Under the continued demand, the price of silicon wafers is expected to continue to rise in 2021. Guoyuan Securities also said that it is expected that other silicon wafer manufacturers will follow the price increase, which will drive the global silicon wafer market into a price increase wave. At the same time, it is expected that the price increase will be transmitted to the entire semiconductor industry chain.

At present, local silicon wafer manufacturers such as Shanghai Silicon Industry have successively started expansion plans. Soochow Securities said that with the continuous development of the global silicon wafer market, the tightening of silicon wafer supply and demand, and the breakthroughs in technology and production capacity of domestic silicon wafer manufacturers, the local silicon wafer industry chain is expected to fully benefit.