Equity markets in China experienced a broad-based correction today. At the close, the Shanghai Composite Index fell by 0.16% to 3,987.01 points, while the Shenzhen Component Index dropped 0.68%, and the ChiNext Index declined 1.13%. The STAR Market Composite Index, however, rose 1.00%. Over 4,000 stocks across the market ended lower. The combined trading volume for the Shanghai and Shenzhen exchanges was 2.55 trillion yuan, a decrease of 67.2 billion yuan from the previous session. Sector-wise, consumer, software, and financial stocks generally retreated, while semiconductor materials & equipment and nonferrous metals themes bucked the trend with gains.
Most sectors declined during the session, but semiconductor materials and equipment stood out as a strong performer, leading the gains. The Semiconductor Equipment ETF (159516) closed up 5.27%.
The explosive growth in demand for AI computing power and high-bandwidth memory (HBM) has led to concentrated capacity expansion plans by leading global wafer foundries. This trend further solidifies the long-term growth thesis for the upstream semiconductor materials and equipment industry. Data from QYResearch indicates that the global AI chip market size surpassed $100 billion in 2025, with a compound annual growth rate exceeding 20%. Sustained high demand from end markets is driving global wafer fab capital expenditure into an upward cycle. Companies like TSMC, SMIC, CXMT, and YMTC are fully advancing their capacity construction, continuously boosting industry sentiment for semiconductor materials and equipment.
Amidst this supply-demand imbalance, prices for the critical electronic specialty gas tungsten hexafluoride (WF6) have surged significantly, with the supply gap widening notably. As of June 9th, the domestic price for 5N-grade high-purity tungsten hexafluoride reached 1,670-1,810 yuan per kilogram, marking a substantial 232.7% increase from 523 yuan per kilogram a year earlier.
Tungsten hexafluoride is an indispensable material in chip manufacturing, primarily used for tungsten metal layer deposition on wafers to achieve interconnect wiring and contact hole filling. It is widely applied across mature process nodes, 3/2nm advanced logic chips, 3D NAND flash memory, and HBM storage products. On the supply side, the world's two major producers, Japan's Kanto Denka Kogyo and Chuo Sangyo, issued warnings as early as April this year, stating that raw material inventories would only last until May-June, with supply capacity in the second half of the year difficult to guarantee. Their combined annual capacity of 2,000-2,200 tons represents about 25% of the global total. This contraction in overseas supply directly intensifies market tightness. In April 2026, the average export price of Chinese tungsten hexafluoride reached $149.79 per kilogram, up 28.33% year-on-year and surging 203.83% month-on-month, allowing domestic semiconductor material firms to fully benefit from the price increases.
Against the backdrop of global semiconductor supply chain restructuring, the penetration rate of domestic equipment and materials continues to rise, indicating strong long-term certainty for the sector. While the sector's rally has persisted recently, investors may need to be cautious of short-term market volatility. Interested investors can continue to monitor the Semiconductor Equipment ETF (159516) to identify suitable entry opportunities.
The nonferrous metals sector rose on the back of multiple positive factors. The Mining ETF (561330) closed up 2.39%, and the Nonferrous Metals ETF (159881) gained 2.15%.
The supply-demand dynamics within the tungsten industry chain have continued to tighten recently, leading to significant price increases. Industry leaders disclosed their long-term contract purchase prices for tungsten raw materials for the first half of June, showing notable hikes compared to the latter half of May: prices for 55% grade black tungsten concentrate and white tungsten concentrate both rose by over 25%, while ammonium paratungstate (APT) prices increased by 18.18%.
As the core raw material for tungsten hexafluoride, a key electronic specialty gas in semiconductors, tungsten concentrate is deeply linked to the semiconductor materials sector. The current expanding global supply-demand gap and exponential price increases for tungsten hexafluoride are directly boosting demand expectations for upstream tungsten raw materials, strongly supporting spot prices for tungsten products and catalyzing the broader nonferrous metals sector.
From a liquidity perspective, the release of the US May CPI data, showing a 4.2% year-on-year rise with core inflation appearing moderate, largely met market expectations. Previously, stronger-than-expected US non-farm payroll data had sparked inflation concerns, sharply boosting expectations for Federal Reserve rate hikes and leading to a pullback in the nonferrous metals sector. The current easing of rate hike fears is helping to repair valuations for the nonferrous sector from the denominator side (discount rates).
Globally, nonferrous metals are exhibiting a pattern of supply contraction and rising demand. Various supply-side disruptions continue to unfold: Indonesia plans to raise the maximum royalty rate for tin resources to 20%, significantly increasing mining costs; a state of energy emergency in Peru is impacting local zinc mine capacity; and Guinea's bauxite export control policies remain unresolved. The combination of these factors further reinforces the rigidity of global mineral supply. On the demand side, momentum remains robust, with AI industry expansion, rapid new energy development, and the steady progress of national power grid upgrade projects providing sustained support for the nonferrous metals sector. The industry's long-term positive outlook is expected to remain intact. Interested investors can continue to monitor the Mining ETF (561330) and the Nonferrous Metals ETF (159881).
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