Wafer Recycling Industry Insight Analysis

What is Wafer Recycling?

Wafer recycling is the process of cleaning, repairing and reusing used or discarded silicon wafers. This technique is becoming increasingly important in the semiconductor industry as it can significantly reduce production costs, minimize environmental impact, and ensure quality and reliability in the semiconductor manufacturing process.

Industry Chain Analysis

The industry chain of wafer recycling industry can be divided into upstream, midstream and downstream parts.

Upstream Analysis

Upstream mainly involves the supply of raw materials and equipment. Silicon wafers, as the basic material for semiconductor manufacturing, are mainly supplied by Japan's Shin-Etsu Chemical and SUMCO, China Taiwan's Global Wafers, Germany's Siltronic, and South Korea's SK Siltron, which occupy more than 90% of the global market share.

Midstream analysis

Midstream refers to the manufacturing process of semiconductor memories and other semiconductor devices. In this stage, recycled wafers are used for testing, research, or as a cost-effective alternative to new wafers. According to the market report, the global silicon recycled wafers market size was USD 480.1 million in 2022 and is expected to reach USD 1,611.42 million by 2031, at a CAGR of 14.4%.

Downstream Analysis

Downstream refers to the application areas of semiconductor devices, including consumer electronics, information and communication, automotive electronics, and IoT. There is a huge demand for high-quality and reliable semiconductor devices in these fields, and recycled wafers play an important role in meeting these demands.

Global and Chinese Markets

The global wafer recycling market is experiencing rapid growth.The SiC wafer recycling industry size was more than USD 772 million in 2023 and is expected to continue growing in the coming years. The growing demand for silicon wafers in the consumer electronics industry has created new economic opportunities for companies offering SiC wafer recycling.

Globally, Asia Pacific, especially South Korea, Japan, and China, are the leading regions in the wafer recycling market. These countries have highly developed semiconductor industries and the necessary infrastructure and expertise.

The wafer recycling market in China is also growing rapidly. China semiconductor wafers market size grew from 7.710 billion yuan in 2019 to 12.230 billion yuan by 2023, at a CAGR of 12.45%. China semiconductor wafer market size is expected to reach 13.1 billion yuan in 2024 .

Domestic semiconductor wafer manufacturers such as Shanghai Silicon Industry, Leon Micro, TCL Zhonghuan, and Zhongjing Technology are rising gradually through technological innovation and independent research and development, although their market share is relatively small .

Enterprise Competition

Internationally, companies such as Shin-Etsu Chemical, SUMCO, Universal Wafer, Siltronic, and SK Siltron hold the majority of the global market share. The companies maintain their leading position in the industry through long-term technology accumulation and market expansion.

In China, local companies such as Shanghai Silicon Industry, Leon Micro, TCL Zhonghuan, and Zhongjing Technology have gradually gained a foothold in the market through independent R&D and innovation.

Professional Opinion

According to market research analysts, China's semiconductor wafer industry will continue to grow rapidly in the coming years, and the market size is expected to reach $13.1 billion by 2024. The analysts also emphasized that there is still a significant gap between domestic semiconductor wafer manufacturers and the international advanced level in terms of technical process level and yield control.

Improving the purity and quality of recycled silicon materials is a key trend in the industry today, in the opinion of a senior engineer at Global Wafers. By creating cutting-edge cleaning and purification methods, it is possible to ensure that recycled wafers meet the highest industry requirements. This not only reduces costs, but also minimizes environmental impact.