Pricing
Resist Is About 1% of Fab Cost, So Price Rises Pass Through
Resist is a small line on a fab's bill. Chinese fabs quoted in the same report put it at about 1% of their costs, and United Nova Technology gave the same figure. A fab therefore rarely fights a resist price rise: it saves almost nothing by switching supplier, and a switch means requalifying every layer that uses the resist.
From October 1, 2026, the three largest Japanese makers, JSR, Tokyo Ohka Kogyo (TOK) and Shin-Etsu Chemical, raised base prices about 15% on new orders and 16 to 22% on long-term contracts for advanced ArF resist, citing tight capacity (BigGo Finance, September 24, 2026; reported, not confirmed by the companies here). The Chinese fabs in the report said the impact was limited, for the same reason: resist is a small share of cost.
Ingredients
A Resist Is a Recipe of Four Ingredient Streams
A photoresist is a formulation, not a single chemical. The resist maker buys or makes four ingredient streams, blends them to a recipe tuned for one wavelength and one customer layer, filters out metals to parts per trillion, and ships the bottles cold. How the resist behaves on the wafer is covered on Photoresist and Development under Process.
| Ingredient | Role | Supply note |
|---|---|---|
| Polymer resin | Forms the film; its solubility switches when exposed; sets etch resistance | Specialty monomers and polymers, mostly from Japanese chemical makers; Shin-Etsu makes its own |
| Photoacid generator (PAG) | Releases acid when light hits it, driving the chemical switch in chemically amplified resist | Many PAGs are perfluorinated sulfonate salts, which puts them inside PFAS rules |
| Quencher and additives | Limits how far the acid spreads, which sets line edge roughness | Proprietary to each resist maker |
| Solvent | Carries the resist for spin coating; mostly evaporates in the soft bake | PGMEA (propylene glycol methyl ether acetate) at electronic grade, from several makers |
| Ancillaries | Anti-reflective coatings, topcoats, developer and thinners used with the resist | Counted with resist in the lithography materials market; DuPont, Merck, Nissan Chemical and Brewer Science are large |
Market
EUV Resist Is the Fast-Growing Slice of a Small Market
| Year | Market | Note |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $4.74B | Up 1.6%; resist up 1%, EUV resist up 20% |
| 2025 | $5.06B (forecast) | Up about 7%; EUV resist demand up about 30% |
| To 2029 | About 6% a year (forecast) | Driven by advanced logic, DRAM and more EUV layers |
EUV resist is the fast-growing slice because every new node and every new DRAM generation adds EUV layers. The total stays small next to the $135.1 billion spent on fab tools in 2025, see Wafer Fab Equipment, but no scanner prints without it.
Makers
Five Japanese Makers and One Korean Lead Advanced Resist
| Maker | Home | Position |
|---|---|---|
| JSR | Japan | ArF immersion and EUV; owns Inpria (metal-oxide EUV resist) since 2021; taken private by the state-backed Japan Investment Corporation in 2024 |
| Tokyo Ohka Kogyo (TOK) | Japan | Largest by many counts; KrF, ArF and EUV; works with Intel on future nodes |
| Shin-Etsu Chemical | Japan | ArF and EUV; also makes resins and is a leading silicon wafer maker |
| Fujifilm | Japan | EUV, ArF immersion and negative-tone EUV with matched developer |
| Sumitomo Chemical | Japan | KrF, ArF and i-line |
| Dongjin Semichem | South Korea | The main non-Japanese advanced supplier; KrF thick resist for 3D NAND and EUV resist for Samsung |
| DuPont, Merck KGaA | US, Germany | Specialty resists and most of the ancillary chemistry |
| Xuzhou B&C, Jiangsu Nata, Shanghai Sinyang, Jingrui | China | g-line, i-line and KrF in volume; ArF dry and immersion in qualification; no EUV in production |
Japanese companies make more than 70% of all resist and about 95% of EUV resist (TrendForce, December 2025). Only TOK, JSR and Shin-Etsu are qualified for EUV in volume, with Fujifilm and Dongjin growing. Metal-oxide resist from Inpria and Lam Research's dry resist are the two chemistries trying to displace chemically amplified resist at High-NA EUV.
PFAS rules
EU PFAS Rules Reach the Acid Generator in Most Resists
Many photoacid generators are perfluorinated salts, and the anti-reflective coatings and topcoats used with ArF resist often contain fluorinated surfactants. The European Union's proposed restriction on PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) under its REACH chemicals law therefore reaches into resist chemistry.
- Where it stands: the European Chemicals Agency's risk committee issued its final opinion supporting the restriction in March 2026; the socio-economic committee's draft was open for comment until May 25, 2026, with a final opinion expected late in 2026. A final regulation is estimated for about 2028 to 2029.
- Semiconductors: chip manufacturing is listed among uses that may get a longer derogation, of up to 12 years, where no alternative is technically feasible. Derogations are per use, so each PFAS in each resist has to be justified.
- Substitutes: TECHCET reports that at least one large resist maker has a well-performing non-PFAS KrF resist. ArF and EUV substitutes are further away.
China
China Makes Its Packaging Resist but Imports the Leading Edge
China makes most of its own g-line and i-line resist for packaging and mature chips, a growing share of KrF, and very little ArF immersion or EUV resist (see Photoresist and Development for the estimates by type). The country set a target of 40% self-sufficiency in resist by 2026, and in December 2025 TrendForce reported rumors that Japan would curb resist exports to China, which Tokyo did not confirm.
- Xuzhou B&C Chemical is one of the largest domestic suppliers; its chairman told the South China Morning Post it aims to mass-produce several core materials for advanced resists within five years.
- Jiangsu Nata Opto-electronic supplies ArF dry resist and has ArF immersion in qualification.
- Shanghai Sinyang and Beijing Kehua (Jingrui) supply KrF and older resists.
The harder gap is upstream: resins and acid generators for ArF and EUV resist are also mostly Japanese, so a domestic formulator can still depend on imported ingredients.
Sites
Most Resist Is Made in Japan; US Plants Finish and Supply Local Fabs
- Made in US
- Some US volume
- Made abroad
| Site | Location | Makes | Status | US status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Inpria (JSR) | Corvallis, Oregon | Metal-oxide EUV resist | Operating | Made in US |
| TOK America | Hillsboro, Oregon | Resist and ancillary chemicals for US fabs | Operating | Some US volume |
| DuPont Electronics | Marlborough, Massachusetts | Resist and anti-reflective coatings | Operating | Some US volume |
| Fujifilm Electronic Materials | Mesa, Arizona | Developers and process chemicals; some resist | Operating | Some US volume |
| Tokyo Ohka Kogyo (TOK) | Kawasaki and Koriyama, Japan | KrF, ArF and EUV resist; new building at Koriyama | Operating, expanding | Made abroad |
| JSR | Yokkaichi, Japan | ArF and EUV resist | Operating | Made abroad |
| JSR | South Korea | Metal-oxide EUV resist plant | Planned for 2026 | Made abroad |
| Fujifilm | Kumamoto, Japan | EUV resist; capacity raised about 30% for TSMC demand | Operating | Made abroad |
| Dongjin Semichem | Hwaseong, South Korea | KrF thick resist for 3D NAND; EUV resist for Samsung | Operating | Made abroad |
| Xuzhou B&C Chemical | Xuzhou, China | i-line and KrF resist; ArF in development | Operating | Made abroad |
| Placeholder: other resist, resin and ancillary chemical plants | ||||
Record
Page Record
- Covers
- Resist pricing and cost share, resist ingredients and ancillaries, the lithography materials market, resist makers, EU PFAS rules, China's resist supply, and production sites
- Sources
- BigGo Finance (Japanese resist price rise, September 24, 2026; reported); TECHCET via Semiconductor Digest (lithography materials market); TrendForce (Japan shares and China target, December 2025); South China Morning Post (Xuzhou B&C); ECHA and Certivo summary (PFAS restriction timeline, 2026); company announcements for plants and products
- Last verified
- October 2026