A fabulous addition

Says Busby, “South Korea is a really important market for semiconductors; two of the three largest chip makers in the world are Korean.”

 

Asia dominates the semiconductor market with around three-quarters of FAB capacity where semiconductors are made, and virtually all chip assembly and testing is in the region. 

 

“Semiconductor development and production began in Silicon Valley in the US,” Busby explains. “It then migrated out of the US toward Asia to lower costs. Japan was the first Asian country to dominate semiconductors.

 

“Now Taiwan is the leader in logic chips, making about 90 percent of the most advanced chips – those that are in your iPhone, for instance,” he says. “South Korea is the biggest producer of memory chips. The country intends to establish the K-semiconductor mega cluster as the world’s largest semiconductor hub by 2047.

 

“The other major player in Asia is China, which has a huge and growing capacity,” Busby says. “The country aims to increase this by about 40 percent by the end of 2030. However, most of the increase is aimed at domestic consumption.”

 

For Taiwan, exporting chips and developing a semiconductor infrastructure outside the country are critical. To do this it is building chip factories in the US, Japan and Europe, with Germany as a focus.

 

“Chip manufacturing is developing in Europe,” says Busby. “According to the European Commission, the EU already commands 10 percent of the global microchip market, and the European Chips Act mobilizes more than 43 billion EUR of investments into the sector*. Trelleborg is well placed to take advantage of the sector’s shift into more global manufacturing.”

 

The acquisition of MNE brings NanoPure into Trelleborg’s portfolio of semiconductor materials. This perfluoroelastomer (FFKM) will join Trelleborg’s already recognized range of specialist Isolast FFKM materials.

 

“Whereas standard elastomer materials are sufficient for a large proportion of applications in other industries, FFKM is the chosen elastomer material for many semiconductor products,” Busby explains. “It combines the elasticity of an elastomer with the chemical resistance of a polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) material and is the gold standard of elastomer materials.”

 

The purity and unique properties of FFKM materials extend the life of seals, supporting FABs in minimizing downtime for planned maintenance, which is critical to maximizing output and profitability.

 

“The process chemicals in semiconductor manufacturing are so harsh they can destroy standard elastomer seals in hours,” says Busby. “Using FFKM seals can extend life to weeks.”

 

Although expanding material offerings was important to Trelleborg, it was not the main driver for the acquisition. “Synergies are the key,” says Busby. “MNE brings established customer contacts with some of the most significant manufacturers in one of the largest local markets for semiconductors globally. Cross-selling our products into MNE’s customers is one thing that we’re already starting to do.

 

“The local Asian production capacity, along with strong R&D resources we now have, shortens lead times and brings our capabilities closer to our customers. This provides a firm foundation for expansion into Asia and other markets.”