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Electronic special gas is a key material in the electronic industry

Electronic special gas (referred to as electronic special gas) is an important branch of special gas, and it is an indispensable raw material for the production of electronic industries such as ultra-large-scale integrated circuits (IC), flat display devices (LCD, LED, OLED), and solar cells. Electronic gas is the basic key material of the manufacturing process, so it is also literally called the "blood" of the electronics industry.

The rapid development of electronic characteristics in the 20th to 21st centuries

The industrial gas industry originated in the United Kingdom in 1886. The Brins brothers established BOC (British Oxygen Company). Initially, the main products of the gas industry included oxygen, hydrogen, carbon monoxide, nitrogen and other important bulk industrial raw materials, and the purity requirements were not high. Later, with the development of high and new technology such as the electronics industry, electronic gases and other special-purpose high-purity gases and mixed gases appeared, collectively referred to as special gases. As special gases were an emerging industry at that time, they involved a wide variety of gases and a wide range of applications. Countries did not form a unified definition and classification of special gases. In the past 10 years, domestic electronic gas has continuously achieved technological breakthroughs in high-end varieties, and the technology generation gap with foreign countries has gradually narrowed. The monopoly of foreign gas companies in China has loosened, and domestic gas has increasingly entered the supply chain of major downstream customers.

High-tech electronics industry drives the continued growth of the electronic special gas market

With the rapid development of my country’s high-tech, the computer industry’s demand for large-scale integrated circuits, and the demand for liquid crystal displays have greatly increased; with the development of new energy sources, my country has vigorously explored the production of polycrystalline silicon solar cells and thin-film solar cells; in addition, New electric light sources, optoelectronic semiconductor devices, and optical fiber communication devices have also developed rapidly. In the production of the above-mentioned high-tech products, a large amount of high-purity gas is required to manufacture various devices with reliable performance. According to the data released by the China Semiconductor Industry Association, the scale of my country's electronic special gas market has shown a growth trend from 2014 to 2020. In 2020, the sales scale of my country's electronic special gas industry is about 17.36 billion yuan, an increase of 23.82% year-on-year.

The electronic special gas industry is still in the process of domestic substitution

At present, the electronic gas market in my country is mostly occupied by several major international giants. High-end gas is almost completely dependent on imports. On the one hand, the price of imported gas is expensive. The price of imported gas will generally reach 2-3 times or even higher than that of domestic gas, increasing IC industry manufacturing. Cost has weakened the competitiveness of my country's IC industry; on the other hand, some core cutting-edge gas giants have imposed various blockades on my country, and the supply situation is affected by international relations, posing a threat to my country's national security and economic development. In addition, many electronic gases themselves are dangerous chemicals, and the import procedures are cumbersome and the cycle is long. Some electronic gases are unstable and spontaneously decompose, or are exposed to strong corrosion for a long time. The impurity content increases. There are many inconveniences in importing across the ocean.

However, under the trend that national policies strongly support the development of the special gas industry, at present, many special gas companies in my country have realized import substitution and are able to produce and supply on a large scale.

Downstream demand will drive the growth of electronic special gas demand

In terms of the prospects for the development of the electronic special gas market, 2020-2022 is the peak period for the production of fabs in mainland China. New star fabs such as Yangtze River Storage and Changxin Storage, as well as established wafer fabs represented by SMIC and Huahong The factory is in a period of capacity expansion and will usher in intensive production in the next three years. According to the characteristics of electronic special gas, the newly-built wafer fab will be the main development enterprise for domestic substitution of electronic special gas. The intensive commissioning of new domestic fabs has opened the best alternative window for electronic special gas. It can be seen that the scale of my country's electronic special gas market will maintain a relatively stable growth in the future, and its development prospects are broad. According to the historical growth rate of the market, the market size of my country's electronic special gas industry is expected to reach 30 billion yuan by 2026.

Article source: Qianzhan