Japan’s Semiconductor Gas Production Collapses To Zero After China Cuts Off Tungsten, Leaving TSMC, SK Hynix And Samsung Exposed

China has stopped exporting a critical gas to Japan, leading to severe shortages in the semiconductor segment that will affect TSMC, SK Hynix & Samsung.

Tungsten Hexafluoride Plays A Crucial Role In Semiconductor Manufacturing, But Japan Sees Production Drop To Zero After China's Ban

Based on reports, major Japanese firms such as Kanto Denka and Central Glass have reported that they are facing severe shortages of a gas that is required for semiconductor manufacturing. These firms are responsible for supplying this crucial gas to the top three semiconductor giants, including Samsung, SK Hynix, and TSMC. With the unavailability of this resource, the market is about to see worsening shortages.

Two Japanese companies, Kanto Denka and Central Glass, have formally notified major clients—including Samsung, SK Hynix, and TSMC—that they will permanently cease production of tungsten hexafluoride starting July 1, 2026.

The core reason for the shutdown is a disruption in raw… pic.twitter.com/GXswuVI6qs

— DaiWW (@BeijingDai) June 11, 2026

The resource in question is Tungsten Hexafluoride, which is produced with Tungsten. The aforementioned Japanese firms are responsible for producing this gas. About 60-70% of the production cost of the gas stems from high-purity Tungsten powder, and these Japanese firms rely heavily on China to source the materials for producing this gas.

Now, China is dropping the ban hammer through tighter export regulations on Tungsten. Starting this year, the shipments of highly pure Tungsten powder have reportedly dropped to Zero, which means that Japan has limited stock available to meet the ongoing semiconductor demand. It is said that Japanese firms tried to keep production going for about five months but have since failed to find an alternative to secure the resources.

At the same time, Chinese manufacturers have seen their stock prices rise, which means that China can become the next major hub to get your precious semiconductor gases from, and since they know they'll be the only ones who can manufacture the gas in volume, they will also likely be raising the prices for all offshore customers.

The Tungsten Hexafluoride gas is essential for 3D NAND and HBM memory architectures. It fills the nano-scale vias that connect different layers of transistors in advanced chips (especially 7nm and below). We've just posted yesterday how SK Hynix currently uses Tungsten materials for its NAND products, but plans to leverage Molybdenum to develop its 375-layer NAND. Samsung is already using Molybdenum on its SSD NAND products.

Further shortages in the semiconductor segments will see prices rise sharply across all products, which are already out of control, and given the increasing demand for DRAM and NAND, things will get far worse.

News Source: Trendforce

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