Does the Iran–Israel war disrupt the semiconductor supply chain? Key input “hydrofluoric acid” has risen more than 100% since the beginning of the year

After the Iran war triggered shocks in semiconductor inputs such as helium, tungsten hexafluoride (WF₆), and the photoresist solvent PGMEA, another key consumable indispensable to wafer fabs—hydrofluoric acid (HF)—is now facing severe pressure. Industry insiders say that due to a surge of up to 40% in upstream anhydrous hydrofluoric acid (AHF) since the beginning of this year, suppliers plan to raise selling prices as early as the end of June, and chipmakers such as Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix will be hit first.

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The US-Iran conflict burns into the semiconductor supply chain: What is “hydrofluoric acid”?

Korean electronics industry media The Elec reports that AHF production requires two feedstocks: fluorite and sulfuric acid, and the feedstock for sulfuric acid is elemental sulfur, which mainly comes from byproducts in the refining process of crude oil and natural gas. As the key hub of global oil trade, the Strait of Hormuz—once disrupted—will directly impact global sulfur circulation.

Industry estimates that the deterioration of the Strait of Hormuz situation has caused interruptions in more than 30% of the world’s sulfur supply, and has also pushed up market prices for sulfuric acid. As the world’s largest sulfuric acid producer, China, after the Middle East supply chain was cut off, further restricted sulfuric acid exports to prioritize safeguarding domestic demand for agriculture, metallurgy, and industrial uses.

According to data from China price data provider SunSirs, China’s domestic sulfuric acid price reached RMB 2,100 per ton in mid-April, up about 130% from the start of the year. An industry insider said, “When sulfuric acid rises, HF will definitely follow. Sulfuric acid used to account for about 30% of AHF production costs; that share is now moving toward more than 50%.”

Korean semiconductor materials industry faces an all-out crunch: 90% of AHF relies on imports from China

This shock is especially painful for Korea’s semiconductor materials industry because Korea has absolutely no AHF production capability domestically, with about 90% of AHF usage needing to be purchased from China. Korea’s main HF suppliers include Soulbrain, ENF Technology, and Foosung. Their production model is to mix imported AHF with deionized water (DI water), produce semiconductor-grade HF, and then sell it to downstream chip manufacturers.

Industry insiders say that the current purchase price of China-sourced AHF for these companies is already about 40% higher than at the start of the year, and cost pressure continues to expand. They expect the costs to be fully passed on to Samsung and Hynix between the end of June and July.

HF is an irreplaceable consumable material in wafer manufacturing. It is mainly used in etching processes to remove oxide films and metal contaminants remaining on the wafer surface. The standard semiconductor-grade HF specification is AHF diluted with deionized water to a concentration of 49%. If mixed with ammonium fluoride (NH₄F), it can be made into buffered oxide etchant (BOE), an etchant with a slower and more uniform etching rate, suitable for advanced processes with fine patterns. At present, Korean wafer fabs consume about 60,000 tons of HF and about 90,000 to 100,000 tons of BOE every year.

Middle East risk weaponized with China resources, hit by dual pressure

This is not the first time Korea’s semiconductor supply chain has suffered a similar shock. Industry insiders point out: “After helium, tungsten hexafluoride, and PGMEA, it’s now AHF again. Geopolitical risk in the Middle East and the weaponization of China’s resources are simultaneously battering Korea’s downstream semiconductor supply chain.”

He said that Korea has self-sufficiency in sulfuric acid. Non-ferrous metal smelters such as Korea Zinc and LS MnM can produce sulfuric acid on their own through sulfur dioxide (SO₂) byproducts. However, the supply shortfall in the AHF link cannot be resolved through domestic self-rescue, making this round of impact even more severe.

Taiwan is also hard to escape, but the risk structure is different from Korea

Taiwan’s semiconductor industry is also exposed to supply chain risks to some extent. Taiwan itself lacks fluorite ore; local firms producing electronic-grade hydrofluoric acid must rely on imported industrial-grade AHF for further purification. Estimated annual HF usage is about 70,000 tons, and any volatility at the raw-material end will directly affect manufacturing costs.

However, compared with Korea’s situation of having “no domestic HF production capability at all,” Taiwan has relatively stronger autonomous capability at the purification end, forming a buffer. Taiwan has two companies capable of producing semiconductor-grade hydrofluoric acid, including Qiaoli Chemical and Formosa Plastics Grand, and Taiwan’s major wafer fabs are almost all their customers.

In other words, the main pressure Taiwan faces in the short term is rising costs—not the urgent risk of supply cutoffs like Korea’s. But on the AHF raw-material side, this fragility has not yet been fundamentally resolved. For Samsung, SK Hynix, TSMC, and even the broader semiconductor industry, the butterfly effect stemming from the Strait of Hormuz is expected to be fully reflected in manufacturing costs this summer.

This article, “Did the US-Iran war hit the semiconductor supply chain? Key raw material ‘hydrofluoric acid’ has surged more than doubled since the start of the year,” was first published on Chain News ABMedia.