By Li Panpan

(JW Insights) Aug 29 -- China's imports of lithography machines from the Netherlands were valued at $2.586 billion from January to July, up by 64.8% year-on-year and higher than ASML's sales forecast in China for the whole year, said a recent JW Insights report.

China's import value of Dutch lithography machines reached $626 million in the single month of July, a year-on-year increase of nearly eight times, according to data from the General Administration of Customs of China (GACC).

The Dutch government's latest ban on lithography machines will be officially effective on September 1, limiting its export to China. Analysts at JW Insights said that Chinese companies would import lithography machines to meet production capacity needs before the ban officially starts.

The GACC data shows that, in 2022, China's total imports of lithography machines reached $3.963 billion, with those from the Netherlands at $2.548 billion, accounting for 64.3%.

From 2015 to 2022, China imported 690 lithography machines from the Netherlands with a total value of $14.508 billion and an average of more than $21 million. The import value has continued to grow yearly, which has increased significantly year-on-year since 2018. It fell back in 2019 and 2022, said the JW Insights report.

China's import of lithography machines from the Netherlands is almost entirely from ASML. From 2015 to 2022, the total sales of ASML's products in China was $15.232 billion, no more than 5% less than the total amount of lithography machines imported from the Netherlands by China during that time.

A total of 16 Chinese provinces and cities imported lithography machines from 2015 to 2022, based on importers' registration locations. The top five were Jiangsu Province ($3.548 billion), accounting for 24.5%; Shanghai ($3.000 billion), 20.7%; Beijing($1.478 billion),10.2%; Hubei Province ($1.424 billion), 9.8%; and Anhui Province ($1.340 billion), 9.2%. They represent 74.4% of the total.

The import volume of lithography machines in China often reflects the scale and production capacity of wafer factories in the region. According to JW Insights analysts, the top five provinces and cities with the most significant import volumes of lithography machines also have China's highest wafer production capacity.

The main fabs in Jiangsu include Wuxi Hynix, Hua Hong Semiconductor, CR Micro, Eaerkey, Hejian Technology, Nanjing TSMC, and Genesis Microelectronics. In Shanghai, there are mainly SMIC, GTA Semiconductor, Shanghai TSMC, Hua Hong Semiconductor, Wingsky Semi, Galaxy core, Diodes. Beijing has SMIC, CXMT, Sai Micro, and YDME; Hubei has XMC and YMTC; Anhui has Nexchip Semiconductor and CXMT, according to the JW Insights report.

From January to July 2023, the provinces and cities that imported lithography machines include Shanghai, Beijing, Hubei, Jiangsu, Guangdong, Anhui, Zhejiang, Shandong, Fujian, Tianjin, Shaanxi, and Chongqing, according to the report.