Today, the industrial gas concept remained active, with the tungsten hexafluoride sector leading gains. As of 13:01, the heavyweight China Shipbuilding Industry Group Special Gas Co., Ltd. (CSSC Special Gas) hit the daily limit-up, continuing to set a new all-time high. Its total market capitalization has surpassed 110 billion yuan. Other companies such as Huate Gas, Heyuan Gas, Guanggang Gas, and Kaimeite Gas also saw gains.
On the news front, customs export data shows that in April this year, the average export price of domestic tungsten hexafluoride reached $149.79 per kilogram. This represents a year-on-year increase of 28.33% and a staggering month-on-month surge of 203.83%, exceeding expectations for price increases. This price signal directly confirms the sharp change in supply and demand dynamics within this sector.
Tungsten hexafluoride is an indispensable key electronic specialty gas in semiconductor manufacturing. According to publicly available industry information, in process steps such as chemical vapor deposition (CVD) during wafer fabrication, tungsten hexafluoride serves as the standard precursor gas for depositing tungsten metal thin films. The resulting tungsten film possesses characteristics like high electrical conductivity, low resistivity, and high-temperature resistance, making it highly irreplaceable in advanced manufacturing processes.
On the demand side, the explosion of the AI industry is driving technological iterations in memory chips, creating sustained growth potential for the tungsten hexafluoride market.
A technology hardware team from CICC pointed out that memory chips mainly include DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory) and NAND Flash (non-volatile memory). Benefiting from industry trends like AI, the penetration rate of HBM (High Bandwidth Memory, a category of DRAM) is increasing. Concurrently, 3D NAND exhibits two major trends: increasing storage density and a rising number of vertical stacking layers. The related processing stages cannot proceed without the involvement of tungsten hexafluoride. The team believes demand for tungsten hexafluoride may continue to grow relatively rapidly. According to estimates by Business Research Insights, the global tungsten hexafluoride market size is expected to be approximately $740 million by 2026, potentially reaching $3.45 billion by 2035, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 19%.
Contraction on the supply side is further intensifying market tightness. Citing a report from The Elec, CICC notes that due to tight raw materials and production capacity constraints, related Japanese and South Korean manufacturers had already issued price increase notices to customers in October 2025, with product unit prices set to rise 70%-90% starting in 2026. In April this year, a Japanese company accounting for about 25% of global supply further issued supply warning notices to South Korean chip manufacturers, increasing uncertainty regarding Japan's tungsten hexafluoride supply prospects for the second half of the year.
Simultaneously, China's export control measures on related raw materials like tungsten are accelerating the reshaping of the global supply chain. An analysis from a CITIC Securities research report suggests that tungsten powder costs account for as much as 60%-70% of the cost of tungsten hexafluoride. The continuous rise in raw material prices and the risk of supply disruptions could potentially lead to supply shortages affecting nearly 30% of Japan's global production capacity. This is expected not only to significantly drive up global tungsten hexafluoride prices but also substantially accelerate the localization and global expansion processes within this sector.
Faced with ongoing volatility in overseas supply, leading domestic companies are playing an increasingly important role in the global market. According to a report, as of now, China Shipbuilding Industry Group Special Gas Co., Ltd.'s total tungsten hexafluoride production capacity has reached 2,000 tons per year, leading Japanese and South Korean manufacturers and ranking first globally. The company has explicitly stated that it expects robust demand for its tungsten hexafluoride products to persist for a considerable period.
Furthermore, citing TECHCET data, a CITIC Securities research report indicates that global demand for tungsten hexafluoride has increased from over 4,500 tons in 2020 to nearly 9,000 tons in 2025, with an average annual growth rate of 14%. DiMarket predicts that the global market size will exceed $2 billion by 2033.