한국기업들, 반도체 소재 대체 공급처 확보 시도 시작..국내외 소식 잇따라<br /><br />South Korean companies are reportedly on the hunt for alternate sources of high-tech materials that have been targeted by Japan's export curbs.<br />Our Seo Eunkyung has the details..<br />According to reports,... Samsung Electronics and SK hynix are searching for alternate sources of high-tech materials,... including efforts to localize their production in response Japan's export curbs.<br />The latest reports from the foreign press... lend credence to speculation that Korean firm are looking into ways to reduce their dependence on Japan.<br />Japanese financial newspaper Nikkei reported on Tuesday... that Samsung Electronics and SK hynix began conducting quality tests for etching gas... which does not originate from Japan.<br />It said the Korean IT giants could produce semiconductors of the same quality... as the ones using Japanese-made etching gas... in about two or three-months' time.<br />Another Japanese financial newspaper, Nihon Keizai,... also released a similar report,... while speculating that the supplier of the etching gas in question... could be from China, Taiwan or Korea.<br />Meanwhile,... China's Shanghai Securities News reported on Tuesday that a Chinese chemical company, Binhua Group, had signed an agreement with Korean chipmakers to supply etching gas.<br />Tokyo's export ban includes fluorinated polyimides, photoresists and etching gas... which are used for the production of chips and displays for smartphones and TVs.<br />Korea is relatively less dependent on Japan for the supply of etching gas... compared to fluorinated polyimides and photoresists,... of which 90 percent are imported.<br />According to the Korea International Trade Association,... China accounted for 46-point-3 percent of South Korea's etching gas imports... from January to May this year,... followed by Japan at 43-point-9 percent.<br />This suggests that Beijing could satiate Korea's demand for etching gas,... even if supply from Japan was disrupted.<br />Seo Eunkyung, Arirang News.<br />
