A global survey of semiconductor chip producers shows that a shortage will persist, mainly due to wafer production capacity constraints, according to the U.S. Commerce Department.
The voluntary survey of 150 companies last fall in the supply chain confirmed there was a significant mismatch between supply and demand for chips, and respondents did not see the problem going away in the next six months. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo told reporters that the department didn't really get what we needed and that they're going to go company by company and get what we need. In November, Raimondo said that she had spoken to all of the CEOs in the supply chain - including Samsung, TSMC, SK - and all of the CEOs that they will be submitting robust and complete data flows to us. Some companies in Asia and governments expressed concern about the data request. Raimondo stated that the department could invoke its legal authority to get responses.
Foreign semiconductor firms with U.S. operations could be asked to answer detailed questions about the chips market, according to the U.S.
Raimondo didn't say who did or did not comply on Tuesday. The department said it was sharing its findings with foreign governments.
The department said it had seen some unusually high prices among chips used by automakers and medical device manufacturers.
The department will engage industry in node-specific problem solving in the coming weeks. We will look into claims about unusually high prices in these nodes. Demand for chips is high. Demand is now about 20 per cent above 2019 levels, Raimondo said. She said there was not a lot of good news in this survey.
Raimondo said the survey did not show evidence of hoarding.
The median inventory for key chips has fallen from 40 days in 2019 to less than 5 days in 2021, according to the department.
There were five days of inventory. Raimondo said there was no room for error. That tells you how fragile the supply chain is. House Democrats are expected to introduce legislation that will increase U.S. competitiveness with China and spend $52 billion on semiconductor production and research, sources told Reuters after the Senate approved funding in June.
President Joe Biden has been pressing Congress to approve more funds for chip production in the United States, as shortages of key components used in autos and computers have exacerbated supply chain bottlenecks.
Intel Corp planned to invest $20 billion and build two new chip plants in Ohio, while Samsung Electronics chose Taylor, Texas for a new $17 billion plant to make advanced chips.