Industry sources report that Mitsubishi Gas Chemical Co. (MGC), the global leader in BT substrate base materials, has recently issued a “delayed delivery” notice for BT materials to its clients.
With raw material shortages becoming increasingly severe, a medium- to long-term shortage in substrate supply is expected.
Supply chain sources also reveal that rising gold prices and extended product delivery times are likely to drive cost increases in fields such as NAND Flash controller chips. This could benefit main controller manufacturers like Phison and Silicon Motion.
Multiple BT substrate companies confirmed that in early May 2025, they received written notices from Japan’s MGC stating that delivery times for some high-end material orders would be further extended. This indicates that the previously reported supply shortage of ABF substrate materials is now spreading to the BT substrate supply chain.
Industry insiders revealed that the main cause of the delay is the explosive demand for CoWoS advanced packaging capacity, which is crucial for producing today’s most in-demand AI GPUs. The resulting spike in demand for ABF substrate materials has occurred in a short period.
Since BT and ABF substrates share some base materials, this has simultaneously squeezed the upstream material production capacity needed for BT substrates.
However, the substrate supply chain generally believes that the current stockpile of materials is still sufficient. Additionally, the consumer electronics market is being hit hard by the new U.S. tariffs under the Trump administration. It is expected that BT substrate deliveries over the next two quarters will not be affected by upstream material shortages. Suppliers, substrate manufacturers, and end customers have also activated order coordination mechanisms to respond.
Nonetheless, Phison recently stated that its controller business is the highlight of Q2. With the overall NAND supply chain tightening, upstream manufacturers are urgently demanding SSD controller chips, prompting Phison to secure production capacity from TSMC.
Since BT substrates are critical materials for NAND controller chips and system-in-package (SiP) products, they are essential for eMMC, UFS, SSDs, and main controller chips.
The supply chain notes that delivery times have now extended to 22 weeks, reflecting increased gold costs. Suppliers will prioritize high-end products such as AI server applications, leading to a shortage of substrates and squeezing out mature process or consumer products.
Subsequent price adjustments may occur to offset rising costs.
Source: MGC
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