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Global Commodity Intelligence

Q2 2025 | APRIL - JUNE

Alert: Update on Quartz Supply Chain Disruptions and Effect on Semiconductor Industry

Key Takeaways:

Hurricane Helene has disrupted high-purity quartz mining in Spruce Pine, North Carolina. High-purity quartz is required to produce Quartz crucibles.
While these crucibles are not a direct material in semiconductor devices, they are used in the process of melting polysilicon to produce the silicon wafers that serve as the base for fabricating modern semiconductor components
The Quartz Corp, one of the leading Quartz mine operators in the region, provided an update on 2nd October that they maintain strong feedstock levels in the supply chain, with no expected short-to-medium-term disruptions.
Semiconductor component suppliers have also reported expecting minimal impact with ample buffer inventory and possible alternatives of other quartz purity grades, offering assurance of short-to-mid-term supply continuity.

In light of Hurricane Helene’s disruption to quartz mining operations in North Carolina, it is critical to understand how this may affect the semiconductor component supply chain. High-purity quartz, primarily sourced from Spruce Pine, North Carolina, is essential for manufacturing high-purity crucibles used in the production of silicon wafers.

While quartz is not a direct material in the wafers themselves, it plays a vital role in the manufacturing process. The crucibles are high-temperature “containers” used to hold and melt polysilicon during the Czochralski process. This process is crucial for producing raw silicon wafers, which serve as the foundation for modern semiconductor devices.

Quartz crucibles can be reused up to seven times during the silicon wafer manufacturing process. In addition to crucibles, which represent the largest use of high-purity quartz in semiconductor manufacturing, this material is also used for other components in the wafer production process, including photomasks, diffusion tubes, and wafer carriers

Both Sibelco and The Quartz Corp, who own and operate the Spruce Pine, North Carolina mines, have halted operations due to severe flooding and infrastructure damage. These two companies are the top producers of the ultra-pure quartz needed for semiconductor-grade crucibles. Recovery efforts are ongoing, but no timeline for resumption has been provided at the time of writing.

The key regions around the world known for producing quartz, particularly high-purity quartz used in semiconductor manufacturing are:

Spruce Pine, North Carolina (USA) – the highest purity quartz source globally.
Norway
Brazil
Russia
China

The Quartz Corp has updated that they remain confident in avoiding supply disruptions for high-purity quartz. They have built strong resilience post-COVID, maintaining significant feedstock levels, coupled with safety stocks throughout the supply chain. As a result, no critical situation for downstream industries is anticipated in the short to medium term.

Key Semiconductor suppliers have indicated that they expect to be largely unaffected by this disruption, citing ample inventory buffers, not needing the highest purity level quartz, and possible alternative sources. This provides some assurance of supply continuity for the short to medium term. However, prolonged disruptions could lead to complications.