Tokyo, July 14, 2011 – (JCN Newswire) – Showa Denko K.K. (SDK) has decided to increase prices of its high-purity fluorine-based gases for electronics. Specifically, SDK will increase prices of high-purity FC-116 (C2F6) and FC-14 (CF4) gases by 500 yen per kilogram each as from shipments on August 1, 2011. SDK will start contacting its customers concerning this price increase.

C2F6 is used mainly as a cleaning gas in the production of semiconductors to remove unwanted chemical substances that adhere to chamber walls after deposition of thin films on silicon substrates. Meanwhile, CF4 is used mainly as an etching gas in the production of semiconductors, LCD panels, GaN LEDs, and polycrystalline-silicon-based solar cells, to produce electronic circuits by creating fine ditches and holes in thin films on silicon substrates.

Due to the sharp rise in the prices of raw materials, our C2F6/CF4 gas production costs have increased rapidly. Although we worked hard to reduce costs by improving production efficiency and other means, we have concluded that we have no alternative but to ask our customers to bear a part of the cost increase in order to ensure the stable supply of C2F6 and CF4 gases.

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