This Year's Wafer Shipments Up 13.9% YoY... Strong Growth Expected Through 2024

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Hyunjin] The shipment volume of silicon wafers, the raw material for semiconductors, increased by 13.9% this year, reaching an all-time high, and is expected to maintain steady growth through 2024.

On the 19th, the Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI) estimated that the shipment volume of silicon wafers will increase by 13.9% year-on-year to 13.998 billion square inches this year. After the semiconductor supercycle in 2018, the shipment volume of silicon wafers decreased by 6.9% year-on-year in 2019 to 11.677 billion square inches, but last year the shipment volume increased by 5.3%, surpassing 12.2 billion square inches, and this year it approached 14 billion square inches.

(Source: SEMI)

SEMI stated that most semiconductor sectors, including logic, foundry, and memory, contributed to the increase in shipment volume this year, and this trend is expected to continue. SEMI forecasts that the shipment volume of silicon wafers will reach 16.037 billion square inches in 2024, representing a 14.6% increase compared to this year.

Ina Skvorcova, SEMI market analyst, said, "Strong demand for semiconductors continues across various industries, leading to a significant increase in silicon shipments," adding, "Growth is expected to continue next year, but fluctuations in wafer shipment volumes may occur depending on the pace of macroeconomic recovery and the timing of additional wafer production facilities."

Silicon wafers are the raw material used to manufacture semiconductor integrated circuits. They are thin, disc-shaped slices cut from silicon ingots. Through a special process, electronic circuits are etched onto the wafer, which is then cut into individual semiconductor chips. Wafer discs (round plates) are produced in various sizes ranging from 1 inch (25.4 mm) to 12 inches (300 mm).