The industry is again nervous as Russia is known to have restricted exports of elements essential for semiconductor manufacturing, CNN reported on the 17th local time.
According to the Russian state-run media, TAS News, from the end of last month, Russia began restricting exports of 'noble gases' to 'unfriendly' countries.
Rare gases are six gaseous elements—argon, helium, and neon—which are rare in air and are used to make semiconductors in many consumer products, from smartphones to washing machines to automobiles.
According to global consulting firm Bain & Company, Russia and Ukraine account for 30% of global neon gas supply.
This is why the industry, which suffered the worst semiconductor supply shortage during the COVID-19 crisis, is nervous again.
According to LMC Automotive, a UK car startup analysis firm, global car production last year fell by 10 million units from the previous year due to a shortage of semiconductor chips.
It was expected to recover in the second quarter of this year, but it was affected by Russia's export restrictions.
In the case of neon, it plays a very important role in semiconductor manufacturing.
This element controls the wavelength of light produced by the laser when patterns are engraved on the silicon wafers that make up the chip.
Before the invasion of Ukraine, Russia had collected neon and sent it to Ukraine to purify it.
According to Jonas Sundqvist, a senior researcher at the market research group Techset, Russia and Ukraine have been major producers of rare gas since the Soviet Union, and the former Soviet Union has used it for military and space technology development.
However, as major Ukrainian port cities such as Mariupol and Odessa were destroyed by the Russian invasion, Ukraine's purification ability was lost and export routes were blocked, making a supply shortage inevitable.
However, there are also observations that Russia's export restrictions will not have a significant impact on the semiconductor industry.
This is because Russian companies have been reducing their dependence on Crimea since the forcible annexation of Crimea in 2014.
"Ukrainian and Russian dependence on neon gas was once very high, reaching 80 to 90 percent, but since 2014, it has decreased to less than a third," said Peter Hanbury, semiconductor analyst at Bain & Company.
Researcher Sundqvisk analyzed that South Korea would also be adversely affected by Russia's export restrictions.
He analyzed, "Korea, where Samsung is located, will feel the pain first." He analyzed, "Korea relies on imports of rare gas, as there are no large gas companies to increase production, unlike the US or Japan and Europe."
He analyzed that China would benefit the most from Russia's move.
This is because China has invested heavily in its semiconductor industry since 2015, and has also invested in equipment that secures rare gases.
Russia is pursuing a strategy of weaponizing its resources after it invaded Ukraine on February 24 this year and was subjected to economic sanctions from the West.
It is criticized for regulating supplies to Europe, which is heavily dependent on Russia for natural gas, or for hampering Ukraine's grain exports amid skyrocketing global food prices.