Demand share by mineral
How much of each mineral’s demand comes from semiconductors.
Critical Minerals and Components for Semiconductors
- Critical minerals
- 57
- Components
- 4
- Linked companies
- 81
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Supply
Minerals and components for semiconductors
The minerals and components semiconductors depend on, tightest supply first, with each one’s supply verdict, price change over one month and one year, and top import origin.
| Name | Type | Supply | 1M change | 1Y change | Top origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gallium | Mineral | Tightening | −11.0% | +72.2% | Canada |
| Ruthenium | Mineral | Tightening | −5.4% | +81.4% | South Africa |
| Indium | Mineral | Stable | +5.7% | +142.5% | South Korea |
| Tantalum | Mineral | Stable | −6.4% | +38.3% | China |
| Germanium | Mineral | Stable | −14.2% | +109.1% | Belgium |
| Tin | Mineral | Tightening | −0.2% | +55.3% | Peru |
| Hafnium | Mineral | Stable | +55.3% | +104.0% | Germany |
| Rubidium | Mineral | Stable | - | +7.1% | - |
| Beryllium | Mineral | Stable | - | +6.7% | - |
| Silicon | Mineral | Stable | −5.5% | −4.7% | Brazil |
| Power transistors and SiC devices | Component | Tightening | +12.6% | +24.5% | Malaysia |
| Erbium | Mineral | Stable | - | +7.0% | - |
| Ytterbium | Mineral | Stable | - | +7.2% | - |
| Arsenic | Mineral | Stable | +62.7% | −15.0% | China |
| Silicon wafers | Component | Easing | −36.9% | −84.3% | Laos |
| Semiconductor manufacturing equipment | Component | Easing | - | −96.4% | Japan |
| Helium, neon and rare gases | Component | - | - | - | Canada |
Minerals
The 57 critical minerals semiconductors depend on
Each mineral by name, with what it does in semiconductors, its Stockatomics benchmark price per kg and its change over the last month.
| Mineral | Role in Semiconductors | Price per kg | 1M change | Stocks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aluminum | Wire bonds, older-node wiring and power modules | $3.63 | −7.7% | Aluminum stocks |
| Antimony | Dopant in silicon and in infrared detectors | $22.87 | −9.5% | - |
| Arsenic | Dopant in silicon and the arsenic in gallium arsenide | $1.23 | +62.7% | - |
| Barite | $0.15 | +88.9% | - | |
| Beryllium | Copper-beryllium test socket springs and beryllium oxide ceramics | $1,600 | - | - |
| Bismuth | Low-temperature solders | $65.60 | +17.9% | - |
| Boron | Dopant in silicon and doping gases | $5.27 | −6.5% | - |
| Cerium | Polishing slurries that flatten wafers between process steps | $2.10 | - | - |
| Cesium | $104,000 | - | - | |
| Chromium | $1.86 | - | - | |
| Cobalt | Liners and contacts in advanced chip wiring | $56.81 | −3.9% | Cobalt stocks |
| Copper | Chip wiring and package substrates | $13.92 | +2.2% | Copper stocks |
| Dysprosium | $274.30 | - | - | |
| Erbium | Optical amplifier and photonics components | $52.60 | - | - |
| Europium | $31.26 | - | - | |
| Fluorspar | Hydrofluoric acid and fluorinated gases for cleaning and etching wafers | $0.54 | +9.3% | - |
| Gadolinium | $34.58 | - | - | |
| Gallium | Gallium arsenide and gallium nitride radio-frequency, power and optical chips | $1,530 | −11.0% | - |
| Germanium | Silicon-germanium high-speed chips and photodetectors | $4,861 | −14.2% | - |
| Graphite | $1.17 | −40.4% | - | |
| Hafnium | High-k gate insulators in advanced logic and memory chips | $5,039 | +55.3% | - |
| Holmium | $80.18 | - | - | |
| Indium | Indium phosphide optical chips and indium-based solders | $732.37 | +5.7% | - |
| Iridium | $158,394 | +2.7% | - | |
| Lanthanum | Gate dielectric materials in advanced chips | $1.17 | - | - |
| Lead | $1.93 | −7.7% | Lead stocks | |
| Lithium | $89.62 | +24.4% | Lithium stocks | |
| Lutetium | $1,010 | - | - | |
| Magnesium | $3.99 | −2.0% | - | |
| Manganese | $0.58 | - | Manganese stocks | |
| Neodymium | $85.14 | - | - | |
| Nickel | Under-bump metallisation and plating | $17.24 | −5.8% | Nickel stocks |
| Niobium | $42.82 | −0.6% | - | |
| Palladium | Plating on lead frames and connectors | $41,504 | −5.2% | - |
| Phosphate | $0.091 | +5.5% | Phosphate stocks | |
| Platinum | Sensors and specialty contacts | $53,892 | −1.6% | - |
| Praseodymium | $89.40 | - | - | |
| Rhenium | $5,002 | +63.3% | - | |
| Rhodium | $258,682 | −3.2% | - | |
| Rubidium | $24,530 | - | - | |
| Ruthenium | Emerging metal for the smallest interconnects | $44,386 | −5.4% | - |
| Samarium | $3.27 | - | - | |
| Scandium | Scandium aluminum nitride in radio-frequency filters | $5,200 | - | - |
| Silicon | The wafer on which most chips are built | $2.85 | −5.5% | - |
| Silver | Die-attach pastes and solders | $2,040 | +5.7% | Silver stocks |
| Tantalum | Barrier layers that keep copper wiring in place | $628.07 | −6.4% | - |
| Tellurium | Phase-change memory materials and infrared detectors | $163.72 | +40.9% | - |
| Terbium | $1,188 | - | - | |
| Thulium | $1,840 | - | - | |
| Tin | Solder bumps and joints in chip packages | $52.30 | −0.2% | - |
| Titanium | Titanium nitride barriers and sputtering targets | $0.83 | - | Titanium stocks |
| Tungsten | Contacts, vias and sputtering targets | $127.28 | −7.9% | - |
| Vanadium | $23.90 | −9.7% | - | |
| Ytterbium | $17.08 | - | - | |
| Yttrium | Plasma-resistant coatings inside etch chambers | $11.43 | - | - |
| Zinc | $3.79 | −0.2% | Zinc stocks | |
| Zirconium | High-k materials and ceramic components | $2.39 | −53.3% | - |
Products
Products in semiconductors
The semiconductors products Stockatomics maps to these minerals, by name.
- 3D NAND flash chip
- DRAM memory chip
- GaAs RF front-end chip
- GaN power transistor
- Leading-edge logic wafer (3 nm class)
- SiC power MOSFET
Overview
Semiconductors and critical minerals
Semiconductors are the most materials-intensive products most people never see. A modern chip is built atom by atom from dozens of elements, deposited, etched and polished in layers only a few atoms thick, and many of those elements appear on the US critical minerals list.
Silicon is the foundation, yet the industry long ago moved beyond it. Compound semiconductors made from gallium, arsenic, indium and germanium handle radio frequencies, light and high power that silicon cannot. Inside advanced logic and memory chips, hafnium forms the gate insulators, tungsten, cobalt and ruthenium carry signals through ever smaller connections, and tantalum lines the copper wiring. Making those chips consumes still more critical minerals, from fluorspar-derived etching gases to cerium polishing slurries and yttrium coatings that protect the equipment itself.
Stockatomics maps 57 critical minerals to semiconductors, covering both what ends up inside a chip and what it takes to make one.
Why these minerals
Why semiconductors need these minerals
Making a chip is the most demanding industrial process on earth, and it draws on critical minerals in two ways: as materials built into the chip, and as consumables that make manufacturing possible.
Inside the chip
Silicon is the substrate for most chips, doped with boron, arsenic and antimony to control how it conducts. Compound semiconductors replace silicon where it falls short: gallium arsenide and gallium nitride for radio-frequency and power chips, indium phosphide for optical chips, and germanium in silicon-germanium for high-speed electronics. In advanced logic and memory, hafnium forms the high-k gate insulators, tungsten, cobalt and ruthenium carry current through the smallest contacts, and tantalum and titanium barriers keep copper wiring in place.
In the fab
The process consumes its own critical minerals. Fluorspar is the source of the hydrofluoric acid and fluorinated gases used to clean and etch wafers, cerium oxide slurries polish them flat, and yttrium coatings protect plasma etch chambers from the gases inside them. Sputtering targets made of tantalum, tungsten, titanium and cobalt deposit the metal layers.
Packaging
Once made, chips are packaged and connected: tin and silver solders, palladium and nickel platings, beryllium-copper test springs and, in power modules, aluminum wire bonds. Advanced packaging, which stacks memory and logic together, is adding demand for all of them.
Supply chain
Semiconductors supply chain risks
The semiconductor supply chain is famously concentrated: a few companies make the most advanced chips, and a few countries supply many of the materials. China is the dominant source of gallium, germanium, refined rare earths and several minor metals, and its export controls on gallium, germanium, antimony, tungsten and indium all touch the industry.
Other inputs are concentrated elsewhere. High-purity quartz for crucibles comes from very few deposits, fluorspar-derived chemicals depend on Chinese and Mexican supply, and hafnium comes from only a handful of zirconium refineries worldwide.
What that means for chipmakers
- Western fabs are qualifying alternative suppliers and building stockpiles of the most exposed materials
- Government programmes in the US, Europe and Japan now fund materials supply as well as chip factories
- Compound semiconductor makers, the heaviest users of gallium and germanium, are the most exposed
Outlook
What is changing for semiconductors
As of October 2026, semiconductors sit at the centre of industrial policy in the US, Europe, Japan and China. Governments are funding new fabs closer to home, and demand for advanced chips is being driven above all by artificial intelligence.
What to watch
- Reshoring: new fabs in the US and Europe need local supplies of chemicals, gases and materials as well as equipment
- New materials at the leading edge: as transistors shrink, ruthenium, cobalt and new high-k materials are replacing older choices
- Advanced packaging: stacking chips together increases the use of solders, platings and substrates
- Power chips: gallium nitride and silicon carbide are taking share in chargers, data centres, vehicles and the grid
- Materials controls: Chinese export controls on gallium, germanium and minor metals are pushing chipmakers to find and fund new sources
Stockatomics Terminal
More semiconductors data in the Terminal
This page shows which minerals semiconductors depend on and why. The Stockatomics Terminal shows how much: each mineral’s demand share, what that demand is worth, how it grows under each scenario and which companies are most exposed.
Implied demand value
What semiconductors’ demand for each mineral is worth at its benchmark price.
Demand growth scenarios
How semiconductors’ demand for each mineral grows under each scenario.
Companies by sector exposure
The listed companies ranked by how much of their value depends on semiconductors.
Companies
Companies linked to semiconductors
The 81 listed companies that produce, process or recover the minerals semiconductors depend on, or make or buy its components, by name. Ranked by sector exposure in the Terminal.
FAQ
Semiconductors critical minerals FAQ
Why do semiconductors need critical minerals?
Chips are built from many elements, and the most advanced ones use dozens. Some form the chip itself, such as silicon, gallium and hafnium; others are consumed in making it, such as fluorspar-based etching gases and cerium polishing slurries.
What are compound semiconductors?
Chips made from two or more elements, such as gallium arsenide, gallium nitride and indium phosphide. They handle radio frequencies, light and high power better than silicon, which is why they are used in phones, radar, chargers and optical networks.
Why do Chinese export controls matter to chipmakers?
China produces most of the world's gallium and germanium and much of its tungsten and indium, and has restricted exports of all of them. Chipmakers outside China, especially makers of compound semiconductors, have had to find new suppliers and build stockpiles.
Which minerals are used to make chips but not inside them?
Fluorspar for hydrofluoric acid and fluorinated gases, cerium for polishing slurries and yttrium for protective coatings in etch chambers, among others.
Which critical minerals do semiconductors need?
Semiconductors depend on 57 critical minerals: aluminum, antimony, arsenic, barite, beryllium, bismuth, boron, cerium, cesium, chromium, cobalt, copper, dysprosium, erbium, europium, fluorspar, gadolinium, gallium, germanium, graphite, hafnium, holmium, indium, iridium, lanthanum, lead, lithium, lutetium, magnesium, manganese, neodymium, nickel, niobium, palladium, phosphate, platinum, praseodymium, rhenium, rhodium, rubidium, ruthenium, samarium, scandium, silicon, silver, tantalum, tellurium, terbium, thulium, tin, titanium, tungsten, vanadium, ytterbium, yttrium, zinc and zirconium. Each mineral's role and price per kg is on this page.
Which companies are linked to semiconductors?
Stockatomics links 81 listed companies to semiconductors through the critical minerals they produce, process or recover and the components they make or buy, among them Air Liquide (EPA: AI), Air Products (NYSE: APD), Albemarle (NYSE: ALB), Alcoa (NYSE: AA), Americas Gold and Silver (NYSE American: USAS) and Andrada Mining (AIM: ATM). See all 81.
The sectors that share most of semiconductors’ critical minerals.
Sources
Sources
- U.S. Geological Survey (USGS): the US critical minerals list and where each mineral is used.
- Company filings: each company’s minerals and its role in each.
- Stockatomics: each mineral’s benchmark price per kg.