Russia, for its part, is planning to increase its neon production as soon as possible, aiming to secure about 25 percent of the global neon market by 2023, following a global supply crunch.
Russian Minister of Trade and Industry Denis Manturov said that the neon purification unit at Moscow State Bauman Technical University is already in full operation, having been built by the university’s team in just three and a half months.
Manturov revealed that according to the plan, the plant will produce about 70,000 cubic meters of high-purity neon gas this year, and the output will increase to 180,000 cubic meters in 2023, which is equivalent to a quarter of the total global demand, effectively filling the gap in the supply of neon gas from Ukraine.
The current shortage of neon caused by the Russian-Ukrainian conflict has significantly pushed up its market price and raised concerns in the semiconductor industry, where many downstream customers have recently turned to Chinese suppliers due to the material’s critical role in lithography processes.
Manturov stressed that the Russian side will have a strong interest in neon, krypton, xenon and other rare.
