Electronic material monthly: silicon wafers, PCB materials, optical fibers

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Electronic material monthly: silicon wafers, PCB materials, optical fibers

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Electronic Material Industry

Electronic material monthly: silicon wafers,

PCB materials, optical fibers

Industry Overview

21 July 2026

Semis materials: June silicon wafer data slightly weak Equity

Silicon wafer imports into Korea and Taiwan declined 2.3% YoY in June, slowing from up Japan

16.8% YoY in May. Taiwan's imports were particularly weak, falling 6.9% YoY (vs. up Chemicals-Specialty

9.7% YoY for Korea), suggesting silicon wafer inventory adjustment remains underway.

During TSMC's earnings call, management noted that among mature-node semis, only Table of Contents

AI-related products such as power management ICs and sensors remain in short supply,

while demand in other areas is not particularly strong. We view this as a weak data point Semiconductor materials 2

for silicon wafers. On 9 July, Micron announced plans to enter into a 10-year supply Printed circuit board materials 5

agreement with GlobalWafers. It also announced US$500mn of strategic funding support Electronic components 7

for GlobalWafers to support development and capacity expansion at its Sherman, Texas Optical fiber, cables, and devices 8

facility. While details regarding pricing and volumes remain undisclosed, the agreement

is significantly longer than the 4-6 year long-term agreements (LTAs) signed by

Takashi Enomoto >>

Japanese suppliers around 2021, highlighting increasingly clear efforts by semiconductor Research Analyst

manufacturers to secure future wafer procurement. We view this development positively BofAS Japan

takashi.enomoto@bofa.com

for silicon wafer suppliers. Under LTAs signed around 2021, delivery schedules were

Niima Komura >>