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Hurricane Helene caused severe damage in the USA, which also left its mark on the global chip production of TSMC and Intel: two mines for pure silicon dioxide are out of operation. They produce 80 percent of the global supply. However, there are divided opinions about the effects.
The “white gold” from North Carolina
Silicon dioxide (SiO2) is the basic building block for modern microchips that are installed in smartphones, tablets, PCs and even refrigerators. It becomes pure through a complex process Silicon and serves as a basis for the production of silicon blanks in chip production, which are then used as wafers be exposed. After the chips are packaged, they are then used to create the elixir of life of the 21st century: microchips.
Highly pure silicon (99.999%) made from pure SiO2 is produced, in turn forms the basis for the inside of the crucible from which the silicon wafers themselves are pulled (Manufacturing details).
No matter whether Samsung, TSMC or Intel: They all indirectly need the high-purity quartz. Without him, nothing works and that’s what makes Spruce Pine, a tiny town in North Carolina, particularly interesting. Almost pure silicon dioxide (99.5 percent) is extracted here, almost 80 percent of the world supply. Nowhere in the world can such quality be purchased Ed Conway describes in “Material World”. and warns of the associated dangers for global chip production. Spruce Pine has also been identified as an Achilles heel.
Mines out of operation
Again Mirror reported, Hurricane Helene also left its mark here: destroyed bridges, mud overgrowth and destroyed buildings, and trimmed forests characterize the scenery. Sibelcoan operator of the mines for the sought-after raw material, has according to the Mirror have also had to accept heavy losses: production has been stopped since the end of September; according to an employee, the enormous rain flooded everything. The report was unable to find out when it would start again, only that in some cases there was neither electricity nor running water in the town with 2,200 residents.
A second operator, The Quartz Corp., also told Spiegel it was “impossible“Predict when production of the raw material will start again.
How bad is it and what does it mean?
The author Ed Conway however, prophesiesthat the outages will last for months. This seems to be due not least to the infrastructure: According to inspectors, a railway line for the export of raw materials will be unusable for months Mirror writes. According to the author, switching to trucks would be an option, but that probably doesn’t negate the condition of the mines, of which there is currently no overview.
How long does he think the plant will be down for? He didn’t want to put a figure on it, but I came away with the impression that six months would be a good result.
Ed Conway
Whether the semiconductor industry will soon run out of wafers and chip prices will increase due to the shortage depends, on the one hand, on how quickly Spruce Pine can make the white gold bubble again, but also on whether there are enough wafers and silicon dioxide in stock.
There is little data on the latter, but since the process from quartz to wafer takes months, effects are not to be expected in the short term, but only in months. According to Conway, this also ensures that the chip industry can easily absorb a month or two without quartz.
Industry experts give the all-clear
Semianalysis goes about X even assumes that no major impairments are to be expected: before the buffers run out, the chain would be running again.
Frank Bösenberg, director of the Saxon semiconductor industrial park Silicon Saxony, also sees no immediate danger for the industry, also because it already works with synthetic quartz for the crucibles in order to minimize its dependence on a few suppliers worldwide. This is more expensive, but technically a viable option.
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