At the time, Japan supplied over 40% of South Korea's hydrogen fluoride, but the export controls proved decidedly effective, cutting off 87.9% of the supply, according to a 2023 CEPR report . This forced South Korea to pivot and import more of the material from the U.S. and Taiwan, and improve its trading relationship with China in order to better secure chemical materials.
Despite this disruption, the effect on memory pricing for consumers was minimal. Spot and contract prices rose over material cost and supply concerns, but large inventories of memory meant that OEMs and consumer-facing retailers didn't raise their prices much in response .
Although the trade dispute between South Korea and Japan didn't end until 2023, the supply restrictions for hydrogen fluoride only caused a temporary adjustment in memory prices. By the end of Q3 2019, storage and memory prices had fallen for several months in a row, showing no long-term effect.
Unfortunately, 2026 is not like 2019. There is no glut of memory chips to buffer material supply concerns. There's a global shortage. And now what little is being made for consumers is going to be notably more expensive to produce.
There's not much that can be done to avert the impending material cost spike for memory makers, and though they are making unprecedented profits, they're unlikely to absorb the cost increase themselves.
Fortunately, then, while there are going to be many long-term effects of the war in Iran, anhydrous hydrogen fluoride shortages for South Korean memory companies may be somewhat short-lived.
For several years, South Korea has been working to improve local production of this key material. Fluoride Korea, a subsidiary of U.S.-based BGF EcoMaterials, has invested around $100 million in building a new anhydrous hydrogen fluoride plant in Ulsan that has a projected annual capacity of 50,000 tons — around half of South Korea's demand.
Unlike memory fabrication lines that aren't projected to begin production until 2027 or 2028, though, this plan is set to come online by Q4 2026. While that will take time to spool up, and there is some international interest from Japan, which is also looking to diversify its supply chain away from China, this could be the new supply South Korean chemical firms need to avert a more-long term disaster as global sulfur prices continue to surge.
Jon Martindale is a contributing writer for Tom's Hardware. For the past 20 years, he's been writing about PC components, emerging technologies, and the latest software advances. His deep and broad journalistic experience gives him unique insights into the most exciting technology trends of today and tomorrow. ","collapsible":{"enabled":true,"maxHeight":250,"readMoreText":"Read more","readLessText":"Read less"}}), "https://slice.vanilla.futurecdn.net/13-4-23/js/authorBio.js"); } else { console.error('%c FTE ','background: #9306F9; color: #ffffff','no lazy slice hydration function available'); } Jon Martindale Freelance Writer Jon Martindale is a contributing writer for Tom's Hardware. For the past 20 years, he's been writing about PC components, emerging technologies, and the latest software advances. His deep and broad journalistic experience gives him unique insights into the most exciting technology trends of today and tomorrow.
Key considerations
- Investor positioning can change fast
- Volatility remains possible near catalysts
- Macro rates and liquidity can dominate flows
Reference reading
- https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/SPONSORED_LINK_URL
- https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/memory-makers-brace-for-hydrogen-fluoride-pricing-shock-as-hormuz-blockade-impacts-supply-chain-key-etching-and-cleaning-material-faces-sharp-cost-increase-amid-trade-disruption#main
- https://www.tomshardware.com
- Korean funeral services company lost $33 million of its customers' money over a bad crypto bet — firm was secretly investing client funds into leveraged crypto
- Audi enthusiast upgrades 2001 A4 gear shift with old smartwatch in 3D-printed housing — vide-coded WearOS app displays gear selection, can be used to control in
- Samsung and SK Hynix employees are reportedly abandoning overseas training programs to nab up to $400,000 performance bonuses — online dating grades rise as fem
- New Flipper One computing multitool bristles with network, GPIO, and M.2 connectivity — new keychain device is also a fully open Arm Linux computer
- Lenovo G02 retro handheld allegedly comes preloaded with thousands of copyrighted games, including Nintendo ROMs — company confirms that it’s an officially whit
Informational only. No financial advice. Do your own research.