Shares of some local computer memory chipmakers with big exposure to the spot market, like Powerchip Semiconductor Corp (力晶半導體), rose more than 2 percent as they benefited from supply constraints after a power outage disrupted production at Samsung Electronics’ local plant.
The manufacturing disruption on Wednesday pushed the spot price of mainstream DDR2 computer memory chips to a record high of US$3.15 per unit yesterday, market researcher DRAMeXchange Technology Inc (集邦科技) said.
The stock price of Powerchip and ProMOS Technologies Inc (茂德科技) rallied 2.32 percent and 2.53 percent to NT$4.85 and NT$2.03, respectively, beating the benchmark TAIEX index, which gained only 0.49 percent.
Limited output of dynamic random access memory (DRAM) chips by global manufacturers is propelling the sector’s recovery and has ensured a sustainable chip price since the fourth quarter of last year, with prices jumping 30 percent quarter-on-quarter, as PC makers increase their inventory to cope with PC replacement demand in the second half of the year.
The disruption at Samsung’s Kiheung plant could exacerbate this shortage, as the firm would need a minimum of three to five days, or a maximum of seven to 10 days, to resume complete production, DRAMeXchange said in a report released earlier this week. In the worst-case scenario it could take as long as two weeks for total resumption, the researcher said.
The share price of the nation’s biggest DRAM maker, Nanya Technology Corp (南亞科技), fell 0.81 percent to NT$30.65 yesterday after the firm announced plans to issue up to 200 million shares to raise funds to purchase equipment and repay debts.
Nanya does not immediately benefit from worsening supply constraints as it sells most of its chips to PC makers at prices negotiated on a monthly basis, or every two weeks.
Contract prices for high-density DDR3 chips, which are set to replace DDR2 as the mainstream chip, are expected to increase next month as greater demand and persistent tight supply drive up spot prices to more than US$3 per unit, while contract chips only average US$2.5 per unit, DRAMeXchange said in a report on March 10.
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A proposed 100 percent tariff on chip imports announced by US President Donald Trump could shift more of Taiwan’s semiconductor production overseas, a Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER) researcher said yesterday. Trump’s tariff policy will accelerate the global semiconductor industry’s pace to establish roots in the US, leading to higher supply chain costs and ultimately raising prices of consumer electronics and creating uncertainty for future market demand, Arisa Liu (劉佩真) at the institute’s Taiwan Industry Economics Database said in a telephone interview. Trump’s move signals his intention to "restore the glory of the US semiconductor industry," Liu noted, saying that
NEGOTIATIONS: Semiconductors play an outsized role in Taiwan’s industrial and economic development and are a major driver of the Taiwan-US trade imbalance With US President Donald Trump threatening to impose tariffs on semiconductors, Taiwan is expected to face a significant challenge, as information and communications technology (ICT) products account for more than 70 percent of its exports to the US, Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) said on Friday. Compared with other countries, semiconductors play a disproportionately large role in Taiwan’s industrial and economic development, Lien said. As the sixth-largest contributor to the US trade deficit, Taiwan recorded a US$73.9 billion trade surplus with the US last year — up from US$47.8 billion in 2023 — driven by strong
STILL UNCLEAR: Several aspects of the policy still need to be clarified, such as whether the exemptions would expand to related products, PwC Taiwan warned The TAIEX surged yesterday, led by gains in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), after US President Donald Trump announced a sweeping 100 percent tariff on imported semiconductors — while exempting companies operating or building plants in the US, which includes TSMC. The benchmark index jumped 556.41 points, or 2.37 percent, to close at 24,003.77, breaching the 24,000-point level and hitting its highest close this year, Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) data showed. TSMC rose NT$55, or 4.89 percent, to close at a record NT$1,180, as the company is already investing heavily in a multibillion-dollar plant in Arizona that led investors to assume
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