Semiconductor firms don't expect Russia's attack on Ukraine to affect supply

There are a lot of issues both economical and humanitarian that have been brought about by Russian’s sudden invasion of Ukraine. One of them is a possible effect on the ongoing semiconductor famine that has been going on for quite a while now. Despite resources from both countries now being deemed questionable, several leaders in the semiconductor industry shared that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine shouldn’t affect the global semiconductor supply any worse than it has already been affected.

This reassurance comes from several leads in the industry, including Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC). Recently, the Taiwanese government actually released a statement (via Reuters) with Vice Premier Shen Jong-chin claiming that Russia’s attack on Ukraine would not do harm to TSMC’s supply of raw materials such as neon, C4F6, and palladium metal, because these supplies had been stockpiled already and could be sourced elsewhere if need be. Intel also claimed it doesn’t expect much of an impact.

“Our strategy of having a diverse, global supply chain minimizes our risk of potential local interruptions,” Intel told Bloomberg in a recent statement.

Semiconductor leaders such as TSMC and Intel have claimed that Russia and Ukraine should have little impact on supply and production in the semiconductor industry.

Chief executive and president of the Semiconductor Industry Association John Neuffer also went on to share assurances that the semiconductor situation would not get worse in the face of ongoing Ukrainian and Russian tensions.

“The semiconductor industry has a diverse set of suppliers of key materials and gases, so we do not believe there are immediate supply disruption risks related to Russia and Ukraine,” Neuffer said.

As Russia continues its action in Ukraine, it has faced severe global sanctions on various business, including restricting Russia’s access to various technologies and products. With that in mind, the situation is still very volatile between both countries. Nonetheless, it would appear that, at least for the time being, the semiconductor shortage that has stifled supply for much of the COVID-19 pandemic won’t be getting much worse as a result of it.