According to the Nihon Keizai Shimbun, Morita Chemical, which has been focusing on the fluorine industry for a century, has recently been affected by Japan’s export restrictions on exports to South Korea. In his interview, the president of the company, Morita, said that the share of Japanese companies (high-purity hydrogen fluoride exports to South Korea) may be reduced due to enhanced export management, and Morita Chemical will also start high-purity hydrogen fluoride production in China to Korea. Supply.
High-purity hydrogen fluoride, which is on the cusp of the wind, is crucial for the production of semiconductor materials. Hydrogen fluoride is mainly used to cut semiconductor substrates. In more than 600 processes of semiconductor product manufacturing, the number of hydrogen fluorides may be as many as ten times.
In the sales of 11.7 billion yen of the company's fiscal year 2018 (as of June 2018), the sales of high-purity hydrogen fluoride for semiconductors exported to South Korea accounted for more than 30%, or about 4 billion yen. Japanese companies account for about 60% of the high-purity hydrogen fluoride exported to South Korea, but due to this incident, the market share of Japanese companies is likely to decline.
He also pointed out that there was still no news of the export to South Korea that was applied to the Kinki Economic and Industrial Bureau on July 2. Usually, the license is obtained about 3 days after the application, but the process becomes complicated after Japan announced the export control of the three key semiconductor materials exported to Korea. He explained that the most obvious change in export procedures is the need to explain the use of the final customer. For the hydrogen fluoride exported to the joint venture company, when it is sold to a semiconductor company, it is necessary to provide the buyer's utilization and company information, etc., in the same way as when exporting to China.
However, Morita also said that high-purity hydrogen fluoride production will be started in the factory in Zhejiang Province, China in 2019. After seeing the trend of semiconductor production moving from Korea to China, the plan was promoted two years ago. He also said that the factory is a joint venture with Chinese companies and will share the investment of 10 billion yen in equipment. It can supply China from South Korea in the future.