I. NF3: The "Cleaning Gas" That Semiconductor Fabs Cannot Do Without

During wafer fabrication, CVD (cHemical vapor deposition) processes deposit film residues on chamber walls that must be removed periodically. NF3 is the workhorse gas for remote plasma chamber cleaning (RPC), thanks to its efficient cleaning capability. It is also used in plasma etching processes and widely applied in flat panel display and solar cell manufacturing (Source: 24ChemicalResearch, 2026-09).

Within the electronic specialty gas product family, NF3 holds a prominent position. AcCording to Persistence Market Research, NF3 accounted for nearly 20% of the global electronic specialty gas market in 2026, with a market value of approximately US$1.04 billion (Source: Persistence Market Research, 2026-09). At the sector level, TECHCET data shows the global electronic specialty gas market was worth approximately US$6.34 billion in 2025, with several institutions projecting growth to US$6.8-7.0 billion or above in 2026 (Source: TECHCET, 2026-09).

How NF3 cleans a chamber: in remote plasma cleaning (RPC), NF3 is dissociated in a remote plasma source to generate fluorine radicals, which react with silicon, silicon dioxide, silicon nitride, and metal residues deposited on chamber walls, converting them into volatile byproducts that are pumped away. Because fluorine radicals are highly reactive, even trace process variations can affect cleaning uniformity — which is why purity grade and impurity control of NF3 matter as much as the gas itself.

A regulatory note: NF3 is a potent greenhouse gas with a high global warming potential, which has pushed leading fabs and gas suppliers to deploy abatement systems and recovery/purification loops, raising the technical bar for suppliers (Source: 24ChemicalResearch, 2026-09).

II. September Capacity Moves: Multiple Players Expand

September 2026 has become a concentrated period for domestic NF3 capacity expansion:

• Heyuan New Materials (Yichang Yaojiagang): The expansion project for electronic-grade nitrogen trifluoride was publicly disclosed for the first environmental impact assessment on September 17. The project will bring capacity to 2,500 tons per year, a five-fold expansion from the existing 500-ton line (Source: Yichang Municipal Ecology and Environment Bureau, 2026-09-17). Parent company Heyuan Gas previously announced a 6.84 billion RMB investment to expand electronic-grade NF3 capacity by 4,500 tons per year (Source: Securities Times, 2026-03-02). On September 22, Heyuan New Materials completed the renewal of its production safety license, officially adding 500 tons/year of nitrogen trifluoride to its permitted scope (Source: Stockstar, 2026-09-22).

• Nata Opto-electronic Material (Nanda Optoelectronics): The company's 2,000-ton high-purity electronic-grade nitrogen trifluoride expansion project is progressing as planned, currently in trial production, with full production expected in 2027 (Source: China Chemical Industry Information Weekly, 2026-09-08).

• Zhongchuan Specialty Gas (CSSC Specialty Gas): The company's ultra-high-purity NF3 capacity reached 18,500 tons per year, ranking among the world's largest and translating into order advantages amid overseas supply disruptions (Source: Sina Finance, 2026-08-31).

China's production base: according to Faxian Gongchang Industrial Research, China accounts for roughly 60-65% of global NF3 capacity, with major producers including CSSC Specialty Gas, Nanda Optoelectronics, and others. The country's position is underpinned by abundant fluorite resources — China produces about 60% of the world's fluorite — and by domestic demand from the flat panel display industry (Source: Faxian Gongchang Industrial Research, 2026-06-18). This production base is what allows Chinese suppliers to step in when overseas capacity is disrupted.

III. Supply Contraction and Rising Prices

While demand expands, overseas supply contraction has been the direct driver of the current NF3 tightness:

• Mitsui Chemicals exit: Mitsui Chemicals decided to withdraw from the nitrogen trifluoride business, halting production at the end of March 2026 and planning to end sales within the year (Source: Global Net Japan, 2026-09-19).

• Kanto Denka outage: In August 2025, a blast at Kanto Denka's NF3 production facility in Japan idled approximately 3,700 tons of capacity (Source: East Money, 2026-06-03).

• Supply-demand gap: Broker research notes the global NF3 supply gap rate is approximately 34%, with 5N-grade prices having risen to RMB 290,000-320,000 per ton (Source: Sina Finance — Basic Chemicals Weekly, 2026-09-07). Leading domestic suppliers have booked orders through Q4 (Source: East Money, 2026-06-03).

IV. Why the Gap Is Hard to Close Quickly

NF3 expansion is not simply "build a line and ship": electrolysis and purification production lines require long construction cycles, new capacity takes time to ramp, and electronic specialty gases must pass lengthy qualification processes before entering fab supply chains. In practice, the industry works largely on long-term agreements (LTAs) — fabs lock in supply commitments months ahead, and spot availability for extra volumes is limited when the market is tight. This is why order books at leading suppliers are already filled through Q4, and why a 34% gap rate does not translate into quick relief from new capacity alone. With global semiconductor capacity expansion and rising AI compute and memory demand, the tight supply-demand balance for NF3 is expected to persist through at least the next several quarters (Source: Sina Finance, East Money, 2026-06 to 2026-09).

For buyers — wafer fabs, display makers, and solar cell producers — the practical implication is clear: securing NF3 supply now depends less on spot purchases and more on stable supplier relationships, qualified product, and multi-year planning. That is the same logic that drives the electronic specialty gas industry as a whole: purity, impurity management, cylinder quality, and supply-chain reliability are the real barriers, and they take years to build.

V. CDHJ Gas: NF3 and the Fluorine-Containing Electronic Gas Portfolio

In the fluorine-containing electronic gas segment, Chengdu Hongjin Chemical (CDHJ Gas) has been dedicated to high-purity gases, specialty gases, electronic gases, and rare gases since 2011. Nitrogen trifluoride (NF3) is a key product in the company's electronic gas line, available in purities of 99.999% and above, with customized purity grades and cylinder packaging.

The company also supplies carbon tetrafluoride (CF4), sulfur hexafluoride (SF6), tungsten hexafluoride (WF6), boron trifluoride (BF3), and high-purity argon — companion gases commonly used in etching processes — offering a relatively complete fluorine-containing electronic gas product matrix for semiconductor and advanced manufacturing customers.

VI. Conclusion

From Mitsui Chemicals' exit to Kanto Denka's outage, from the expansion moves of Heyuan and Nanda Optoelectronics to 5N-grade prices at RMB 290,000-320,000 per ton, the NF3 story of 2026 reflects a broader shift in the electronic specialty gas industry: overseas contraction, domestic substitution. As domestic capacity is gradually released and qualifications advance, Chinese NF3 will continue to gain weight in the global supply chain.

(Data sources: Yichang Municipal Ecology and Environment Bureau, Securities Times, Stockstar, China Chemical Industry Information Weekly, Sina Finance, East Money, Global Net Japan, 24ChemicalResearch, Persistence Market Research, TECHCET — 2026)