The conflict between Russia and Ukraine has caused a shortage of neon gas, and Chinese companies may take advantage of the situation to rise.

Neon (Ne) is a colorless, odorless, non-flammable rare gas. Neon can usually be used as a filling gas for colored neon lights for outdoor advertising displays; in addition, it can also be used for visual light-emitting indicators, voltage regulation, plasma research and laser gas mixture components. It is also used as a low-temperature coolant, standard gas, Special mixtures, etc., are used in lighting, laser, instrumentation, scientific research, electronics and many other fields.

As a rare inert gas, although neon has many application fields, its application scale is relatively small. Therefore, there are very few companies that industrially produce neon in the world, and there are only a handful of countries that have the ability to industrialize and produce neon independently. Among them, Ukraine is the world’s largest producer and exporter of neon, accounting for about 70% of the world’s neon production. Ukrainian companies such as Cryoin and Iceblick provide most of the products for the global neon market. However, due to the start of the Russo-Ukrainian war, Ukraine’s neon gas supply capacity has received great attention from the market. Especially in the context of a relative shortage of semiconductors, the importance of neon gas to the semiconductor industry chain has become prominent, and due to the lithography machine giant Aspen Mai’s concerns about the supply of neon gas for the light source of DUV lithography machines required have led ASML to actively seek to diversify the supply of neon gas to get rid of the negative impact of the Russia-Ukraine conflict on its supply chain. Even so, as the situation between Russia and Ukraine became tense, especially after the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war, the price of neon gas strengthened. According to the released “2022-2026 China Neon Industry Market Monitoring and Future Development Prospects Research Report“, in 2014, Global neon prices soared 600% due to tensions caused by Russia’s seizure of Crimea, Ukraine. The price of neon in China has risen from 400 yuan/cubic meter in 2021 to 1,550 yuan/cubic meter in February 2022, and the neon market is nearly US$100 million. It is worth noting that as a major semiconductor producer in the world, more than 90% of semiconductor-grade neon in the United States comes from Ukraine. The production of semiconductor industries such as South Korea and Europe also relies on the supply of neon from Ukraine. The Russia-Ukraine conflict may have an impact on the global semiconductor industry. , exacerbating the tight supply situation of semiconductors.

Neon is a by-product of steel production. As a major steel producer, China has already mastered neon purification technology. Currently, China Walter Gas’s gas suppliers have passed ASML’s certification, and Kemetqi may soon pass ASML’s certification, thereby entering the global semiconductor-grade neon market. Analysts believe that in the context of China’s continuous breakthroughs in core technologies of the semiconductor industry and improvement of the semiconductor industry chain, neon as the representative of The progress of the rare semiconductor gas industry is conducive to the improvement of China’s semiconductor industry chain, thereby breaking foreign monopolies. In addition, due to the possible monopoly of neon supply, China can also use neon supply as a bargaining chip to strengthen its influence and position in the global semiconductor industry chain.