In tungsten sanctions – Newspaper Kommersant No. 175 (7376) of 09/22/2022
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Deliveries abroad of Russian metals, which are used as materials for electronics by Apple, Intel, Samsung and other large companies, have fallen sharply. Russian enterprises are losing more than half of their profits and are talking about reorientation to the domestic market due to foreign sanctions. Foreign manufacturers of equipment are forced to look for new partners and logistical ways, experts say, which will inevitably affect the cost of production.
A source familiar with the data on the export of metals from Russia told Kommersant that the supply of raw materials that were previously purchased, including by foreign technology companies (we are talking about tungsten, gold and tantalum), decreased by 72.46%, to 76 tons. generally. In particular, exports of gold decreased by 73%, to 45 tons, tungsten – by 63%, to 28 tons, and tantalum – by 92%, to 2 tons. In money terms, the volume of exports fell from $6.7 billion to $2.6 billion (by 61.2%). In the case of gold, we are talking generally about the supply of raw material in ingots, tungsten is shipped in the form of scrap, tantalum in ingots for microelectronics and bars.
Sergey Grishunin, managing director of the NRA rating service, specified to Kommersant that on average the share of export gold that goes to the needs of the electronics industry is only 4-6%. The main demand for gold is provided by the jewelry industry, investors and central banks, he explained. “Tungsten is mainly used as an alloy of steel, the share of metal in the production of electronics ranges from 7% to 10%,” says Sergey Grishunin. Tungsten, according to him, is used to give steel thermal strength and impact resistance, so for the most part the metal goes to the needs of the production of engineering steel assortment. Tantalum is 70% used for the production of electronics.
In micro- and radio electronics, these three metals are in high demand, confirms the interlocutor of Kommersant in one of the semiconductor manufacturers. According to him, tungsten is needed for metal wiring directly inside the chip. The most important material for the industry, says the Kommersant source, is tantalum: its properties allow it to be used as a barrier in a chip between silicon and copper. The golden thread is widely used for unsoldering microchip crystals when assembling it into a case.
AT report Apple’s 2019 Environmental Responsibility Report states that the iPhone X uses gold in the device’s main circuit board, wireless charging element, camera module, Face ID, and other parts of the smartphone. The report notes that a minimum of 1.1 kg of gold can be extracted from 100,000 iPhones. Tungsten is used in the component responsible for vibration response, at least 83 kg of tungsten can be extracted from 100 thousand devices.
Metals are also purchased Samsung, AMD, Intel, TSMC, follows from the company’s statements, the annual volumes are not specified, but ten Russian suppliers are listed. In particular, gold was purchased from the Novosibirsk Refinery, Uralelectromed, MZSS (Moscow Plant for the Processing of Special Alloys), Krastsvetmet, Priorsky Non-Ferrous Metals Plant, Schelkovo Secondary Precious Metals Plant. The supplier of tungsten for electronics was Hydrometallurg, Moliren, Unechsky Plant of Refractory Metals, and tantalum – Solikamsk Magnesium Plant (SMZ).
A representative of the Novosibirsk refinery told Kommersant that before the outbreak of hostilities in Ukraine, the company had several contracts with foreign buyers, but “now this interaction is impossible on both sides, given the sanctions.” “We believe that in the current situation, most Russian manufacturers work for the domestic market, given the risk of interruption in supplies abroad,” the plant explained. The SMZ representative only clarified to Kommersant that until February 24, most of the tantalum was supplied to China, Austria and Kazakhstan. At other enterprises, Kommersant’s inquiries were not answered.
According to data World Bank, Russia in 2018 ranked fourth in terms of tungsten supplies in the world with a volume of about 1.2 thousand tons per year. In the tantalum market, according to information WEF, Russia is not included in the top 5 suppliers with a share of no more than 2% (its leaders are Congo, Rwanda, Brazil and Nigeria). For gold supplies Russia takes fourth place (4.4% of the world market).
Oleg Izumrudov, Executive Director of the Consortium of Russian Developers of Data Storage Systems, emphasizes that, despite their small shares in global markets, Russian metals were important for electronics manufacturers: , say, tungsten, in an inappropriate format, it will not be suitable for production. A Kommersant source in the semiconductor market agrees with this. In his opinion, it is not easy to replace Russian tantalum: “We will have to look for an analogue or purchase through intermediaries, which will affect the price of the final product.”
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