Skip to content

GCRI · Comércio e recursos estratégicos

Semicondutores e componentes

Semiconductors are made through a long value chain of design, specialised materials, manufacturing equipment, fabrication and assembly, with several steps concentrated in a few firms and places. Shortages can stall vehicles, medical devices and infrastructure. This page sets out how the chip value chain is structured, where it concentrates, how disruptions propagate, and what evidence serves the governments and industries that depend on it.

02A pergunta

Semiconductors and components: how the risk develops.

Electronics, advanced materials and fabrication inputs. The dossier below sets out how the risk develops, what is measured, where the data come from, how it is modelled and who decides.

Mecanismo

Each step is specialised

Design tools, wafers, speciality gases and chemicals, lithography equipment, fabrication and packaging are each dominated by few suppliers. A bottleneck at any step limits output.

Mecanismo

Fabs take years and vast capital

Leading fabrication plants cost billions and take years to build. Capacity cannot be added quickly when demand changes or supply is disrupted.

Mecanismo

Geography concentrates risk

Advanced fabrication and assembly cluster in a few regions exposed to earthquakes, drought, power outages and geopolitical tension.

Mecanismo

Shortages hit downstream industries

Products need many chips, including mature, low-cost ones. A escassez of a single component can halt production lines far from where chips are made.

03Monitoramento

Supplier tier map.

A tela que uma equipe usaria para acompanhar esta matéria: suas medidas, estados e decisões. Os nomes são exemplos e os valores são ilustrativos.

Supplier tier map

Semiconductors and components · Assembly cluster · Bill of materials BOM-059

Single source at tier 3GCRI · Comércio e recursos estratégicos

Tier mapping

  1. Nível 112 suppliers
  2. Nível 247
  3. Nível 383
  4. Raw materials5

Concentração

Rare earth magnet704002None qualifiedElevado
Gallium614836Recycling pilotElevado
Copper wire401196Two qualifiedBaixo
Lithium cells522554One qualifiedMédio

Mitigation

Dual source
qualification 11 months
Buffer stock
9 weeks
Design change
substitution study
Proprietário
Responsável pelas aquisições
Supplier tier map: the screen’s structure, terms and states for Semiconductors and components.Nomes de exemplo e valores ilustrativos; um projeto, não um registro nem um sistema ativo.
04Em todos os domínios

Chips sit inside the control systems of every domain.

Component supply studies are designed for the série Strategic Systems. The European Chips Act (2023) is one of several national and regional responses to concentration in fabrication; the page names no firm.

  • Antecedência e escassez records for critical equipment.
  • Studies of fabrication concentration with sources.
05Métodos e evidência

How semiconductors and components is modelled, measured and tested.

O modelo, os seus pressupostos, os seus dados e a sua incerteza, na forma que um cientista ou engenheiro verificaria. As estruturas seguem métodos publicados. Os valores representados são ilustrativos, não conclusões.

Modelo de sistema

The couplings between the systems in semiconductors and components: signs of influence, a reinforcing and a balancing loop, and cross-links where stress jumps.

++−+ComércioIndústriaComunidadesEconomiaR de reforçoB equilíbrio
Causal loop diagram from the page’s systems; signs show the direction of influence. Illustrative structure for a system dynamics or network model, not estimated couplings.
Princípios orientadores FAIR · GO FAIR e FORCE11W3C PROV · World Wide Web ConsortiumOrientação sobre o tratamento consistente das incertezas · IPCCCEOS Analysis Ready Data · Committee on Earth Observation Satellites
06Indicadores

O que é medido e com que qualidade.

Cada indicador leva sua unidade, sua periodicidade, o tipo de fonte por trás dele e a etiqueta de evidência que um valor levaria. Nenhum valor é mostrado: um programa os fornece sob sua própria autoridade.

IndicadorUnidadeCadênciaTipo de fonteRótulo
Share of fabrication capacity by regionpercent of wafer capacityanualIndustry analysesESTIMADO
Chip trade by product codevalue of trade in integrated circuitsanualEstatísticas comerciaisEstatísticas publicadas
Supplier concentration in key inputsnumber of suppliers with significant sharepor avaliaçãoValue chain studiesESTIMADO
Antecedência for chip orderssemanasmensalIndustry surveysREPORTADO
Export control measures on semiconductorscontagem de medidaspor alteraçãoGovernment noticesEstatísticas publicadas
Fabs exposed to natural hazardscount by hazard zonepor avaliaçãoSite and hazard overlayESTIMADO
07Fontes

De onde vêm as evidências.

Conjuntos de dados públicos nomeados e registros institucionais, cada um com sua classe de licença. As fontes obtidas por acordo só são usadas nos seus termos e nunca são republicadas.

FonteO que ofereceClasse de licença
UN Comtrade (HS headings 8541 and 8542)Trade in semiconductor devices and integrated circuitsFree access with limits, UN terms
OECD studies of the semiconductor value chainStructure, concentration and policy analysisPublic, OECD terms
WSTS public summariesIndustry sales by region and product categoryPublic summaries; full data members only
Government export control noticesRules restricting trade in chips and equipmentPublic records, licence per government
Academic and think-tank value chain mappingsSupplier shares at each stepLicence per publication (to check)
08Decisões

Quem decide, e a que servem as evidências.

Trade and Strategic Resources prepares evidence. The decisions below are taken by the authorities named, under their own rules, and never by the platform.

Quem decideA perguntaEvidências a que esta página serve
Ministries of industry and technologyWhich value chain steps to support domestically or with partnersValue chain maps; concentration evidence
Critical sector operatorsWhich components to stockpile or qualify from second sourcesDownstream dependency analyses
Trade and security authoritiesHow export controls affect domestic supplyExport control evidence; trade data

Produtos que este tema gera

  • Value chain maps showing concentration at each step
  • Hazard exposure overlays for fabrication sites
  • Downstream dependency analyses for critical sectors
  • Evidence notes on export control changes
09Questões centrais

What experts ask about semiconductor supply.

  • At which stages of the chain is capability concentrated in few firms or locations?
  • Which specialised inputs, such as high-purity gases, chemicals and wafers, are single-sourced?
  • How long would it take to replace lost fabrication capacity?
  • Which downstream sectors are most exposed to shortages of mature or advanced chips?
  • How do export controls and industrial policies change the structure of the chain?
10Mecanismos e fatores

Why the chain is fragile.

Semiconductor manufacturing requires extreme precision, very large capital investment and accumulated know-how. Leading-edge fabrication plants take years to build and need specialised equipment from a handful of suppliers. These barriers favour concentration: each stage tends to have few capable players, and the stages are spread across different regions.

Shortages propagate widely because chips are embedded in so many products. Even inexpensive, mature-node chips can halt the production of much more valuable goods when they are missing. Long lead times and the difficulty of switching suppliers, since chips must be qualified for each product, slow recovery.

Other components share similar features: specialised capacitors, displays, sensors and advanced materials often depend on few producers and on inputs such as rare gases or high-purity minerals.

11Métodos e dados

Métodos e seus limites.

  1. 01

    Supply chain mapping

    Tracing firms and locations at each production stage. Commercial confidentiality limits visibility beyond the first tiers.

  2. 02

    Análise de redes

    Identifying central nodes and single points of failure using ciência de redes. Firm-level links are often incomplete.

  3. 03

    Materials and process research

    Understanding critical inputs and alternatives using materials science and chemistry.

  4. 04

    Análise de insumo-produto

    Estimating sector exposure to component shortages. Tables are aggregated and published with delay.

The industry changes quickly, and analyses state the date and sources of the information used.

13Where this page’s references

Where this page’s references lead.

Os organismos e documentos à luz dos quais esta página é lida. O estado e as edições mudam; cada ligação leva ao organismo emissor.

14Perguntas

Perguntas e respostas.

Why are semiconductor supply chains fragile?
Because several steps, from equipment to advanced fabrication, are concentrated in few firms and locations, capacity takes years to build, and products depend on many chips.
What is a fab?
A semiconductor fabrication plant, where chips are manufactured on silicon wafers under strict clean-room conditions.
Do mature chips matter?
Yes. Many vehicles, appliances and industrial systems rely on older, low-cost chips, and shortages of these can halt production as much as advanced chips.
Does the platform assess individual chip makers?
No. It studies the structure of the industry and its exposures with transparent methods, not individual firms.
Are export controls analysed?
Their effects on supply structure are analysed in neutral terms. The platform does not advise on compliance.
Why do mature chips matter?
Because many essential products use them, and their shortage can stop production as effectively as a shortage of advanced chips.
RelatóriosContribuir

Contribua com evidências a partir desta página.

Relatórios is the Consortium’s quarterly publication. What you know about this subject can become evidence, a case or a correction in the next edition, credited to you and published under CC BY 4.0 where it is your own work.

GCRIComércio e recursos estratégicosSistemas estratégicosCenários e testes de estresse
Comércio e recursos estratégicos

Traga um método, um conjunto de dados ou uma pergunta.

A informação e os pedidos estão abertos hoje. Um pedido recebe uma referência e indica o próximo passo; candidaturas, pagamentos, alocações de computação e registros só abrem quando existem a equipa, os termos e a capacidade de revisão.