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Taiwan Says Ukraine Won’t Seriously Impact Chip Supply Chain

Taipei has moved reassure manufacturing chiefs that its semiconductor production lines won’t be affected by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine


US chip toolmaker Applied Materials will invest $400 million over four years in a new engineering centre in India
Small Chinese chip design firms are struggling to secure sufficient advanced packaging services at home, analysts have said. Photo: Reuters.

 

Taiwan’s government said on Saturday the war in Ukraine will have little impact on the supply of key raw materials for semiconductors.

Taiwan is a major chip manufacturer, home to the world’s largest contract chip maker and Asia’s most valuable listed company, TSMC, and key to alleviating a global shortage of semiconductors which have in some cases forced auto production lines to shutter.

The cabinet, following a meeting chaired by Vice Premier Shen Jong-chin, said three key raw materials for making chips – the gases neon and C4F6 as well as the metal palladium – would not be seriously impacted. Russia produces neon, C4F6 and palladium.

 

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Taiwanese chip makers use little palladium, and neither Ukraine nor Russia is a major source for that which the island does use, the cabinet said in a statement. Domestic companies also have the ability to refine and “remanufacture” palladium, so there should be no impact, it said.

For neon and C4F6, there are already stocks on the island and supply chains are diversified, so “the near term impact is not big,” the Cabinet said.

Taiwan’s energy supplies are also secure, with 145 days of oil reserves and diversified supply sources, while for liquefied natural gas, or LNG, there are also diverse supply sources, it said.

Taiwan’s government announced on Friday it would place sanctions on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, though it has given no details and the island’s exports to the country are minimal.

On the financial markets, the cabinet said the Taiwan dollar’s exchange rate was relatively stable but that the central bank would keep a close watch and take “appropriate management measures” if needed.

The finance ministry will also act to stabilise the stock market if necessary, the cabinet said.

 

  • Reuters with additional editing by Sean O’Meara

 

Read more:

Sanctions On Russia Remind China Over Its Need For Chips

China Invasion Risk Sees Taiwan’s TSMC Moving Fabs Overseas

Taiwan’s UMC To Spend $5bn On New Chip Plant In Singapore

 

Sean O'Meara

Sean O'Meara is an Editor at Asia Financial. He has been a newspaper man for more than 30 years, working at local, regional and national titles in the UK as a writer, sub-editor, page designer and print editor. A football, cricket and rugby fan, he has a particular interest in sports finance.