#AIBoomDrivesTungstenShortage

‍- Could tungsten be the next bottleneck in AI?

The AI gold rush is squeezing more than just GPUs and memory chips, putting pressure on the entire supply chain. Now we’re hearing more about tungsten becoming a critical material to monitor as demand for chips keeps soaring.

We have it on good info that 2 Japanese producers have ceased WF (tungsten hexafluoride) production due to raw material shortages, while tungsten prices are expected to surge in the H2 2024.

AI demand: Rising rapidly

WF supply: Facing disruption

Tungsten: Key semiconductor material

H2 price outlook: +70%-90% expected

WF is so important because it’s used in many modern semiconductor process steps. Its availability is already a significant supply concern with AI chips, high bandwidth memory and data center infrastructure going full speed ahead.

In a nutshell, the AI supplychain is becoming vastly more complicated. It’s not just the GPUs and the HBM. We need to ensure we also have secure supply for:

Specialty chemicals

Metals

Energy

Manufacturing capacity

If tungsten prices spike sharply, chip makers could see higher production costs or more supply issues.

It's too early to panic and say production is going to slow right now, but it will be something more to monitor for investors interested in the AI hardware cycle.

It appears that the global race forAI dominance is going to be a race for more thancomputing power-the next big bottleneck could be critical materials.

Will tungsten be a major pinch point?

‍#Semiconductors #GateSquare