South Korea’s Korea International Trade Association has elevated bromine to 'key item for supply stability management' due to 97.5% import dependence on Israel — a concentration exacerbated by Middle East tensions. While helium faces top-priority status (64.7% from Qatar, +50% spot price surge), bromine’s risk lies upstream: Israel produces 46.5% of global liquid bromine, and Japan — Korea’s top HBr supplier — relies on Israel for >70% of its bromine. With no substitutes in semiconductor etching, prolonged disruption threatens HBr output and fab yields.
According to www.thelec.net, South Korea has formally flagged bromine as a high-risk material for supply stability amid escalating Middle East tensions — with 97.5% of its liquid bromine imports coming from Israel.
Helium and Bromine Elevated in Korea’s Critical Materials Framework
A report released on April 13, 2026 by the Korea International Trade Association (KITA) classified helium as a “top-priority item for process continuity” and bromine as a “key item for supply stability management”. Items in the top-priority tier face immediate production setbacks if supply is disrupted. Helium qualifies due to its 64.7% import dependence on Qatar — which accounts for roughly 33% of global helium production. Recent Iranian attacks disrupted operations at the region’s largest helium production complex, pushing global spot prices up by about 50%.
Domestic mitigation efforts include shifting to long-term contracts with U.S. suppliers and deploying helium recycling systems (HeRS); Samsung Electronics is reported to have introduced HeRS in certain production lines.
Bromine’s Hidden Concentration Risk
Although bromine is categorized as second-tier — implying some inventory flexibility and less immediate production impact — its upstream supply chain is critically concentrated. Global liquid bromine production is dominated by Israel (46.5%) and Jordan (25.6%). South Korea’s reliance on Israeli bromine stands at 97.5%. Domestic producers such as SK Rezonak and Soul Materials use imported liquid bromine to manufacture hydrogen bromide (HBr), a critical etchant in semiconductor fabrication.
HBr imports themselves appear diversified: Japan supplies 47.1% and the United States 23.5% of South Korea’s HBr. However, Japan — the largest HBr supplier — sources more than 70% of its liquid bromine from Israel, effectively extending the Middle East dependency across the regional supply chain.
Broader Geopolitical Exposure and Strategic Shift
In addition to helium and bromine, KITA identified eight other materials vulnerable to Middle East geopolitical risks: crude oil, liquefied natural gas (LNG), naphtha, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), aluminum, and ammonia. The association recommends managing these under a three-tier system: top-priority process continuity, supply stability management, and price/logistics monitoring.
The report underscores structural constraints:
“The current Middle East shock represents a structural supply disruption driven by concentrated production regions and maritime bottlenecks, limiting the effectiveness of simple supplier diversification.”
KITA urges procurement strategies to pivot from long-term contracts toward building emergency-ready inventory — stockpiles that can be deployed immediately during disruptions.
This assessment aligns with broader industry trends. For example, TSMC and Intel have recently increased strategic bromine buffer stocks, while Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) added bromine to its 2025 List of Specified Critical Raw Materials. Similarly, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s 2024 Critical Minerals Strategy highlighted bromine’s role in advanced semiconductor manufacturing — though it did not yet list it among the 50 designated critical minerals, citing limited domestic production capacity and refining infrastructure.
For supply chain professionals, the implications are operational and tactical: bromine may not halt lines overnight, but prolonged shortages could constrain HBr availability — directly impacting etch rate consistency, yield, and ramp timelines in logic and memory fabs. Unlike helium, where recycling offers partial relief, bromine has no viable substitution in semiconductor-grade etching processes. This makes inventory visibility, dual-sourcing feasibility assessments (e.g., evaluating Jordanian or U.S.-based bromine refiners), and real-time logistics tracking across Red Sea and Suez Canal chokepoints essential components of near-term risk mitigation.
Source: www.thelec.net
Compiled from international media by the SCI.AI editorial team.
