Low on gas: Ukraine invasion chokes supply of neon needed for chipmaking

Enlarge / Technicians inspect a semiconductor wafer during testing in the cleanroom at the Tower Semiconductor Ltd. plant in Migdal HaEmek, Israel. (credit: Bloomberg | Getty Images)

Russia's invasion of Ukraine threatens to pile further pressure on chip manufacturing as a squeeze on the supply of rare gases critical to the production process adds to pandemic-related disruptions.

Ukraine supplies about 50 percent of the world's neon gas, analysts have said, a byproduct of Russia's steel industry that is purified in the former Soviet republic and is indispensable in chip production.

Manufacturers have already been reeling from shortages of components, late deliveries, and rising material costs, with companies that rely on chips, such as carmakers, facing production delays as a result.

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