TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan retained its ranking as the top buyer of semiconductor production materials in 2024.

According to the US-based Semiconductor Equipment and Materials Institute (SEMI), the semiconductor materials market had US$67.5 billion in revenue in 2024, marking a 3.8% increase from the previous year, per CNA. Taiwan led the global market for the 15th consecutive year with material purchases of US$20.1 billion (NT$647.9 billion).

SEMI attributed the growth in chip materials revenue to the overall recovery of the semiconductor market and growing demand for advanced materials driven by high-performance computing and high-bandwidth memory production.

Revenue from wafer fabrication materials grew by 3.3% to US$42.9 billion, while packaging materials revenue rose by 4.7% to US$24.6 billion. Increased complexity and processing steps in advanced DRAM, 3D NAND flash memory, and logic ICs spurred double-digit growth in materials procurement.

However, due to ongoing inventory adjustments in the industry, especially in mature process nodes, demand for silicon wafers remained weak. SEMI reported a 7.1% decline in silicon wafer use in 2024.

In terms of regional markets, Taiwan was trailed by China, which procured US$13.5 billion in materials, followed by South Korea's US$10.5 billion.