According to THE ELEC report, South Korea’s Dongjin Semichem and ENF Technology have both requested customers Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix to increase the price of thinners.

Thinners are mainly used to remove photoresist residues sprayed during wafer and display manufacturing. The production process is to first process propylene oxide (PO) into propylene glycol monomethyl ether (PGME) and propylene glycol methyl ether acetate (PGMEA), and then make it into a diluent.

It is reported that the two South Korean companies plan to increase the price of thinner by 50% from April.

People familiar with the matter said that Samsung and SK Hynix are conducting simulations to reflect the impact of price increases.

Although in the application of propylene oxide, semiconductors and displays only account for about 5% of the market share. But according to a person familiar with the matter, the demand for all industries that use propylene oxide is very strong, but the supply has not increased at the same time.

People familiar with the matter pointed out that this led to a 90% increase in the price of propylene oxide from the beginning of 2020 to the end of 2020. The prices of propylene glycol monomethyl ether and propylene glycol methyl ether acetate also rose by 80% during the same period.

In addition, due to the sudden snowstorm in Texas, Dow Chemical closed its local propylene oxide production plant, which led to further increases in the price of this material.

According to the person, the prices of propylene glycol monomethyl ether and propylene glycol methyl ether acetate have doubled since the second half of 2020.

It is not difficult to see that the COVID-19 pandemic and the impact of natural disasters are creating a vicious circle of material shortages and supply and marketing issues. The foundries are not only facing the limitation of production capacity, but the rise in equipment and materials is also a new challenge. The rise and fall of enterprises may only be a matter of time.