Asia’s chipmakers feel the heat as naphtha crunch hits photoresist supply
Shortages are expected to hit advanced nodes that rely on extreme ultraviolet lithography the hardest.
by Ann Caoin and Iris Dengin
The distant geopolitical conflict in the Middle East is sending shock waves through Asia’s semiconductor industry, exposing fresh vulnerabilities in the supply chain as shortages of photoresist – a critical chipmaking material – emerge as the latest weak link.
With the Strait of Hormuz effectively closed since early March, supplies of naphtha – a key feedstock for specialty chemicals used in semiconductor production including photoresist – have been sharply curtailed.
Produced during the refining of crude oil or natural gas, naphtha is essential to the manufacture of advanced chips used in applications ranging from artificial intelligence to car systems.
Source: SCMP
https://www.scmp.com/tech/article/33511 ... pe=section
