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Silicon chips are formed on wafers, which are thin slices of high-purity silicon cut from long cylindrical ingots, a material that should not be a problem for the raw material to produce. And also that it is not, after all, we find plenty of sand everywhere, but such a form of silicon must, of course, first be cleaned of unwanted impurities and then prepared for its final form.
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According to the server mining.com is pure pure silicon the latest material, which is affected by the lack of production capacity. Only 20% of man-made silicon is produced in a quality usable in metallurgy, and only 15% of such silicon is further processed to be used for the production of semiconductor chips, for which we need a material with more than 99% purity. –
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Such material is not available now, so in less than two months its price has more than quadrupled. The fragility of the industry producing this basic material, used not only for the production of chips, but also for solar panels, medical implants, alloys for engine blocks and in various degrees of purity for a number of other products, is shown in full nudity. In the case of chip manufacturers, moreover, this may not be such a crucial thing, which should make end goods significantly more expensive, and it is rather another scarecrow for car manufacturers who need much higher stocks for their purposes.
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But why is there a shortage of silicon now? The reason is simple and we have already informed about it once. These are China’s efforts to curb electricity consumption, which has been increased by intensive industrial production, which is forcing producers to shut down their operations. In the case of companies in Yunnan Province that produce silicon in their furnaces, mining.com said it was ordered to reduce production by up to 90% from the level of August this year, which is why prices have quite logically skyrocketed. –
At the same time, more than 20% of Chinese silicon is produced in Yunnan Province, and it is fortunate that the largest producers in Xinjiang have not been so affected so far. Even so, such an increase in silicon prices is unprecedented and the question is how it will develop further, when the main cause is more or less artificial restrictions on energy consumption, which the Chinese government has agreed to. However, according to an analyst at Shanghai Metals Market, silicon prices should remain well above normal for at least another year before new production capacities become operational. Even if China did not restrict production, there would be a shortage of silicon on the market, as Yang Xiaoting claims.
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