Companies in the integrated circuit manufacturing sector on the STAR Market spoke out! Accelerating the localization development of upstream materials, Q1 end-use market demand grew.

The 2024 Annual Performance Briefing for the Integrated Circuit Manufacturing Sector on the STAR Market was held on April 18. Jinhong Gas, EDO Optoelectronics, and Zhongju Semiconductor participated and communicated with investors.

Jinhong Gas primarily provides customers with one-stop gas supply solutions for various specialty gases, bulk gases, and fuel gases; Zhongju Semiconductor specializes in electronic wet chemicals, electronic specialty gases, and precursor materials, which are widely used in semiconductor manufacturing fields such as integrated circuits and display panels; EDO Optoelectronics is a company engaged in the R&D, production, and sales of AMOLED semiconductor display panels.

Jin Xianghua, Chairman and General Manager of Jinhong Gas, stated at the performance briefing that electronic specialty gases are key materials in semiconductor manufacturing. With the advancement of semiconductor technology and the increase in market demand, the semiconductor industry is expected to maintain steady growth in the coming years, thereby driving the demand for electronic specialty gases. The company will accelerate its layout, actively explore the market, and seize opportunities to obtain more business opportunities.

Jinhong Gas is promoting the introduction of its products to domestic and overseas pan-semiconductor enterprises, with ultra-pure ammonia and nitrous oxide products already successfully introduced to most leading pan-semiconductor enterprises.

It is reported that since 2024, Jinhong Gas has secured eight electronic bulk gas projects, including Wuhan Changfei, Northern Integrated Circuit Phase II, Xincheng Hanqi, Zhejiang Laibao Display, Shanwei Project, Xinye Times, and Gaoxin Technology, as well as electronic bulk engineering projects such as Chongqing Runxi Microelectronics and Lakeside Optoelectronics. In 2024, the company's projects with Xiamen Tianma, Wuxi Huarun Shanghua, and Wuhan Changfei have achieved mass production and gas supply, while Northern Integrated Circuit Phase II is in a temporary gas supply state.

Jin Xianghua stated that the current localization rate of electronic gases for semiconductors is still relatively low. The company will increase R&D investment, integrate multiple resources, and fully tackle technical challenges to contribute to the independent and controllable development of China's semiconductor industry.

Chen Gang, Director and General Manager of Zhongju Semiconductor, responded to questions from the STAR Market Daily at the performance briefing, stating that the company has made comprehensive layout arrangements for the supply capability of existing electronic wet chemicals and electronic specialty gases based on the demand from integrated circuit clients. At the same time, considering the future expansion progress of integrated circuit customers, the company has implemented expansion and renovation projects such as the 100,700 mt/year electronic wet chemicals expansion project and the advanced electronic chemical materials project for integrated circuits (Phase I).

It is reported that since its establishment, Zhongju Semiconductor has focused on the semiconductor materials field and established long-term stable cooperative relationships with many well-known customers, such as SMIC, Yangtze Memory, and Huahong Group.

In terms of the progress and achievements of product localization, the company's electronic-grade hydrofluoric acid has been recognized by the Zhejiang Provincial Department of Economy and Information Technology as "technologically advanced internationally and breaking international monopolies," while electronic-grade sulfuric acid, electronic-grade nitric acid, electronic-grade ammonia water, buffered oxide etchant, high-purity chlorine, and high-purity hydrogen chloride products have been recognized as "technologically leading domestically, breaking international monopolies, achieving key areas of RRR cuts substitution, and being applied by well-known users."

Regarding the impact of US tariffs, Chen Gang stated that the company's direct procurement amount from the US is very small, accounting for less than 1% of total procurement, so the current tariff policy has a minimal impact on the company. In the future, Zhongju Semiconductor will continue to reduce product costs through process optimization and technical transformation, while further increasing market development efforts in East Asia and Southeast Asia, including Japan, South Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan, China, to comprehensively improve product gross margins.

Fu Wenbiao, Chairman of EDO Optoelectronics, stated at the performance briefing that the demand in the end-use market in Q1 this year has increased YoY, especially the demand for AMOLED display panels for IT products such as tablets and laptops, which has shown significant growth.

Regarding the market's attention to the exploration and investment in smart terminals such as AI glasses, Fu Wenbiao stated that the company's products can be used in robots and AI-enabled end-use products, and the company will consider whether to enter the AI glasses smart terminal market based on its development scale and prospects.

He also introduced that EDO Optoelectronics plans to develop more than 20 new products this year, and customer demand has been clearly identified.

Fu Wenbiao stated that the company's sales and procurement business mainly come from domestic and other overseas regions, and the tariff policy has a relatively small direct impact on the business. The company will also closely monitor the progress of this event. It is reported that the localization rate of various raw materials in EDO Optoelectronics' daily production has reached over 80%, and there is basically no direct import of materials from the US. The production equipment has also basically completed the originally planned layout, and there has been no increase in tariffs so far.