The market demand for tungsten hexafluoride is growing rapidly, and the level of localization in the domestic market needs to be improved in the future.

Tungsten hexafluoride is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula WF6. It appears as a colorless gas under normal temperature and pressure and can be dissolved in most organic solvents. It is the only variety of tungsten fluoride that has been industrially produced.

At present, the mainstream process for producing tungsten hexafluoride in industry is the fluorinating agent oxidation method. The production path is divided into two types: one is to use fluorine gas as the fluorinating agent to react with tungsten to generate tungsten hexafluoride; the other is A method of using nitrogen trifluoride (nf3) as the fluorinating agent to react with tungsten to generate tungsten hexafluoride. The first production path is currently the mainstream method for industrial production of tungsten hexafluoride. The purity of the tungsten hexafluoride produced through this method can reach more than 99.999% after purification and distillation.

Tungsten hexafluoride has the characteristics of decomposing with water, not burning in the air, chemically active, highly corrosive, strong metal fluorination, and good electrical properties. It can be used in electronics, industry, optical materials, electricity, chemical industry, energy and other fields. . Among them, the electronic industry is the main application field of tungsten hexafluoride. In this field, tungsten hexafluoride is mainly used as a high-performance deposition material and is widely used in chemical vapor deposition processes. It is produced through deposition and stacking to produce conductive films and metals in integrated circuits. Wiring materials.

According to the “Tungsten Hexafluoride (WF6) Industry In-depth Market Research and Investment Strategy Suggestions Report 2023-2028” released by the Industrial Research Center Shows that against the backdrop of the accelerating development of the domestic semiconductor industry, tungsten hexafluoride has become a key material required for manufacturing logic chips and memory chips, and its market demand continues to increase. In 2022, the domestic market demand for tungsten hexafluoride will be approximately 18 million tons, a year-on-year increase of approximately 45%.

However, the current output of tungsten hexafluoride in my country does not match the continuously growing market demand. The output is still at a low level and the growth rate is slow. The main reason is that due to technical and financial constraints, there are currently only 100 enterprises in my country that have achieved mass production of tungsten hexafluoride. The number is still relatively small, with only a few companies such as Parite Gas and Haohua Technology. At the same time, there is a big gap between local tungsten hexafluoride companies and international companies such as Merck of Germany, Kanto Denka of Japan, SK Materials of South Korea, Hooseng of South Korea, and Taiyo Nippon Sanso of Japan in terms of technology, brand building, and product layout.

Industry analysts said that my country’s current import dependence on tungsten hexafluoride is still relatively strong, and the import and export market is showing a trade deficit. According to data from the General Administration of Customs, my country’s overall import volume of tungsten hexafluoride in 2022 was 715.8 tons, with an import value of US$41.268 million, and export volume was 418.85 tons, with an export value of US$24.2422 million. In the future, under the background of stable prosperity of the domestic semiconductor industry, the market demand for tungsten hexafluoride will continue to increase. However, the current domestic production capacity is difficult to meet the growing market demand. In the future, local companies will need to accelerate the improvement of their technical level and product research and development capabilities to promote the continuous improvement of the localization level of the domestic tungsten hexafluoride market.