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Posco to supply Samsung Electronics with xenon for semiconductors from 2024

Published: 27 Oct. 2022, 18:28

A semiconductor wafer is displayed at a Samsung Electronics showroom in Seocho District, southern Seoul. [NEWS1]

Posco will supply xenon, a chemical gas used in semiconductor manufacturing, to Samsung Electronics, starting in 2024.

Samsung Electronics has been importing all of the xenon it uses from overseas, so the deal with Posco will help the chipmaker localize and diversify its sources of raw materials amid the global supply chain instability.

Posco will develop technologies and facilities to extract xenon at its steel plant in Gwangyang, South Jeolla, and begin production in 2024.

The steelmaker is supplying neon, another noble gas used for chip manufacturing, to SK hynix as well.

“It is meaningful for us that Posco’s facilities are contributing to the localization of xenon as well as neon,” said Yoon Duk-il, head of corporate planning and finance at Posco. “We will commit to creating a stable domestic supply chain of noble gases through a close collaboration with Samsung Electronics.”

Local chipmakers including Samsung Electronics and SK hynix had mainly relied on foreign suppliers for noble gases such as xenon, neon and krypton. But as the war between Ukraine and Russia led to a supply disruption, the companies have been exploring alternative ways to secure the key element.

BY SHIN HA-NEE [[email protected]]