Taiwan’s silicon wafer market is recovering earlier than expected, with AI demand for advanced process technologies pushing customers to accelerate purchases and suppliers to negotiate higher prices on new contracts. Citing an Economic Daily News report, ABMedia said GlobalWafers, Taiwan Semiconductor Co., and Wafer Works are all seeing operating momentum improve, with the market now looking at what could be the first round of price increases in three years.
Customers pull in shipments as contract talks move higher
Industry sources said shipments originally scheduled for completion before the end of this year have already been cleared. Some orders that had been planned for early 2027 have also started shipping one quarter ahead of schedule.
Silicon wafer makers are now in talks with customers over pricing for new orders. Progress differs by company, but the direction is the same, with negotiations moving toward higher prices. The companies have not disclosed the current status of their long-term agreements, or LTAs, though each is trying to raise the share of long-term contracts. Senior executives, according to the report, are privately confident that pricing next year will be better than this year.
GlobalWafers expects both volume and pricing to rise
GlobalWafers Chairperson Doris Hsu said next year will be a year of strong revenue growth. She expects silicon wafer spot prices to rise from the second half of this year through the first quarter of next year, while advance payments tied to long-term contracts should increase noticeably starting in the first half of next year.
Hsu said the global silicon wafer industry could post double-digit growth over the next two years, driven by continued price increases and higher shipment volumes. She added that customers are expanding capacity on a large scale, and even older fabs that are not being expanded are working to remove bottlenecks and shorten lead times so they can raise shipments earlier.
SEMI, the global semiconductor industry association, had previously forecast double-digit percentage growth in the global semiconductor materials market for both this year and next year.
Earnings and fundraising point to the same trend
ABMedia also cited an earlier Chain News report on GlobalWafers’ August results. The company posted consolidated revenue of NT$4.764 billion for the month, up 7.63% year over year. Net profit attributable to owners of the parent reached NT$704 million, up 144.98%, while monthly earnings per share came in at NT$1.47, compared with NT$0.60 a year earlier.
The report said revenue grew only by a single-digit percentage, but profit more than doubled because the product mix shifted toward advanced-process specifications and higher-value silicon wafers, lifting both gross margin and operating margin.
On the funding side, GlobalWafers completed the issuance of 50 million global depositary receipt, or GDR, units in September at $28.64 per unit. The total deal size was about $1.432 billion, or roughly NT$45.4 billion, and drew about four times oversubscription from international institutional investors. The company plans to use the proceeds for overseas raw material procurement in local currencies and capital expenditures at subsidiaries, while advancing its local production and nearby supply strategy. Its new plant in Texas has passed validation by major top-tier semiconductor customers, and follow-on capacity has been secured through long-term contracts.
Taiwan Semiconductor Co. and Wafer Works push product upgrades and expansion
Taiwan Semiconductor Co. said performance in the second half of this year should be better than in the first half, and that it will continue meeting customer demand while maintaining an optimistic view on operations.
Wafer Works is negotiating price increases with customers while also refining its product mix and focusing on applications with higher margins. In addition to deepening its existing silicon wafer product lines, the company is targeting faster-growing areas including advanced packaging and optical transmission, and is working closely with leading global foundry customers.
The company recently completed sample deliveries of square wafers, with customer validation progressing smoothly. It is also participating in the development of a structural compensation bare die project to broaden its advanced packaging portfolio.
Wafer Works approves financing plan for expansion
To support capacity expansion, Wafer Works’ board approved a financing plan on Oct. 23. The package includes 18 million new shares in a cash capital increase, with total par value of NT$180 million, as well as the company’s ninth and tenth domestic unsecured convertible bond offerings. The issuance caps are NT$3 billion and NT$2 billion, respectively. Both carry a 0% coupon and a five-year term.
The funds will be used to repay bank loans and purchase machinery and equipment. The company’s main expansion base is its Erlin plant in Changhua, where it is pushing ahead with construction of a 12-inch silicon wafer production line and related plant engineering.
