Asia’s chipmakers feel the heat as naphtha crunch hits photoresist supply

The distant geopolitical conflict in the Middle East is sending shock waves through Asia’s semiconductor industry, exposing fresh vulnerabilities in the supply chain as shortages of photoresist – a critical chipmaking material – emerge as the latest weak link.
With the Strait of Hormuz effectively closed since early March, supplies of naphtha – a key feedstock for specialty chemicals used in semiconductor production including photoresist – have been sharply curtailed.
Produced during the...