Vital TSMC Supplier Warns of Chip Material Price Hikes Into 2023
- Raw materials cost rising at unexpected pace, Showa Denko says
- It began retreating from products whose prices can’t be raised
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Japanese chemicals supplier Showa Denko K.K. expects to further raise prices and cut back unprofitable product lines as it grapples with a barrage of economic challenges confronting the $550 billion semiconductor industry.
That’s on top of at least a dozen hikes already this year, reflecting Covid-19 supply snarls, surging energy costs from the war in Ukraine and the yen’s dramatic weakening, Chief Financial Officer Hideki Somemiya told Bloomberg News in an interview. The situation is unlikely to significantly improve until at least 2023, he added.