Material Insights · Understanding the Material World

CMP slurries and pads and Semiconductors

Chipmakers polish wafers flat after many layers using slurries and pads that are consumed as they work, so CMP consumables grow with wafer output and with the number of polishing steps that new chip designs add; supply is concentrated, with one firm holding over half of pads, and the abrasives tie the chain to China's rare earths.

CMP slurries and pads (chemical) and Semiconductors (industry): 4 relationships.

How they are linked

1. Planarisation consumable

Physical flow · Strong · CMP slurries and pads → wafer fabs

Each deposited layer has to be polished flat before the next can be patterned, and the slurry and pad wear away in the process, so fabs buy them continuously; contract foundries rate them 5 of 5 on criticality.

  • 5 of 5 criticality for contract foundries
  • about $3.6 billion CMP consumables revenue forecast for 2025
  • $2 billion and $1.39 billion slurry and pad revenue in 2024

CMP made copper dual-damascene wiring, replacement metal gates and FinFETs possible and manages the taller structures in 3D NAND. Electronic chemical suppliers also depend on it as a core product (4 of 5). Demand follows wafer output: the 2024 rise was led by recovering DRAM production, while legacy demand was flat. India's first fab, approved in February 2024 with 50,000 wafer starts a month, will add a new buyer.

Enterprise types that depend on it:

  • Contract foundries: planarisation (criticality 5 of 5)
  • Electronic chemical and specialty gas suppliers: core product (criticality 4 of 5)

Sources: Material Insights; Semiconductor Digest (TECHCET); Applied Materials; ThePrint

2. More polishing steps per chip

Transition · Rising · New chip architectures → CMP demand

Gate-all-around transistors, backside power delivery and 3D NAND add CMP steps, and hybrid bonding in advanced packaging adds more, so consumable use per wafer rises as designs advance.

  • 8.6% a year forecast CMP consumables growth to 2029
  • 94% forecast five-year growth in CMP consumables for cobalt, molybdenum and ruthenium (2024 view)

New contact and wiring metals such as cobalt, ruthenium and molybdenum need their own consumables, which TECHCET in 2024 expected to be the fastest-growing segment by far. Legacy-node demand was flat in 2024, so growth is concentrated at leading-edge logic, memory and advanced packaging lines.

Sources: Semiconductor Digest (TECHCET); TECHCET (via Semiconductor Packaging News)

3. Concentrated suppliers

Shared risk · Strong · A few slurry and pad makers → all fabs

Slurries and pads are qualified for each process step, and changing supplier means requalifying the step, so a few firms hold large shares.

  • 31% Fujifilm Electronic Materials' share of the slurry market, 2024
  • over 50% DuPont's share of the pad market, 2024

Entegris ranks second in slurries. An outage at a dominant pad plant would hit many fabs at once, and the long qualification time limits how quickly a fab can switch.

Sources: TECHCET (via Semiconductor Packaging News)

4. Rare earth and mineral abrasives

Shared risk · Medium · Ceria, alumina and silica supply → slurries → fabs

Slurries use abrasive particles of ceria, alumina and silica; ceria is a rare earth oxide, so slurry supply is tied to rare earth supply chains that suppliers are trying to diversify beyond China.

In 2024 TECHCET warned that alumina, ceria and silica supply could be affected and that suppliers may need to qualify sources other than China and Russia; it described rare earth abrasives as a key supply chain challenge in 2025.

Sources: Semiconductor Digest (TECHCET); TECHCET (via Semiconductor Packaging News)

For investors

Key learnings

  1. TECHCET forecasts CMP consumables to grow about 8.6% a year to 2029, driven by extra polishing steps in new chip architectures as well as wafer volume.
  2. Supply sits with a few qualified firms, such as DuPont with over half of pads and Fujifilm with 31% of slurries in 2024, and requalification slows any switch.
  3. Ceria abrasives tie slurry supply to rare earths, so slurry makers with abrasive sources outside China are better placed if Chinese supply tightens.

What to track

  • Global wafer starts and fab utilisation: Near-term demand for slurries and pads (Quarterly · SEMI, company results)
  • CMP consumables market estimates: Growth and share shifts among suppliers (Yearly · TECHCET)
  • Chinese rare earth export rules: Risk to ceria abrasive supply (As announced · China Ministry of Commerce)

For policymakers

Key learnings

  1. India's first fab, Tata-PSMC at Dholera with 50,000 wafer starts a month, will need a steady flow of qualified CMP consumables.
  2. Supplier concentration means fab incentives should be paired with efforts to attract local slurry blending or pad conversion.
  3. Ceria abrasives link chip supply chains to rare earths, so India's rare earth processing plans also matter for semiconductors.

What to track

  • Semiconductor projects approved and in production: Size and timing of domestic consumable demand (Quarterly · India Semiconductor Mission, MeitY)
  • Imports of polishing preparations and pads for semiconductors: Dependence on foreign consumable suppliers (Monthly · DGCI&S trade data)

India

India approved its first commercial fab, a Tata Electronics and PSMC plant at Dholera costing about ₹91,000 crore with 50,000 wafer starts a month, in February 2024; it will be a new buyer of CMP consumables from a concentrated global supplier base.

Sources

  1. Semiconductors: materials and inputs, Material Insights (2026)
  2. TECHCET projects CMP market is set to reach $3.6B in 2025, Semiconductor Digest (TECHCET) (2025)
  3. The role of CMP in device scaling, Applied Materials
  4. TECHCET CMP consumables press release, 3 May 2024, TECHCET (via Semiconductor Packaging News) (2024)
  5. Cabinet approves 3 semiconductor projects worth Rs 1.26 lakh cr, among them India's 1st fab unit, ThePrint (2024)