Baiwei Storage locks in $1.5 billion for wafer supply, Semiconductor Equipment ETF (561980) opens higher and rises over 3%

March 25, the AI and semiconductor industry chain surged across the board. The Semiconductor Equipment ETF Merchandising (561980) opened higher and rose more than 3%; as of the time of this release, it was up 3.38%. The top five weighted stocks—Advanced Micro-Fabrication Equipment Inc. of China (AMEC) (688012.SH), Beiqi Huachuang (002371.SZ), Cambricon Technologies (688256.SH), SEMCORP Technology (688072.SH), and Changchuan Technology (300604.SZ)—all climbed sharply, while constituent stocks such as Jiangfeng Electronics (300666.SZ), Kema Technology (301611.SZ), Tianyue Advanced (688234.SH), Kingfa Tong (603061.SH), and others saw multiple stocks rise more than 6%.

On the news side, China’s billion-yuan storage chip listed company Vastion Storage (688525.SH) signed a $1.5 billion storage wafer procurement contract to address the stability of long- and medium-term storage wafer supply, and to reduce the impact of storage wafer price fluctuations on costs.

Storage chip prices surged in 2026 Q1, and the shortage may continue through 2027. According to data from Counterpoint Research, a market research firm cited by the South Korean media, storage chip prices in the first quarter of 2026 saw an astonishing increase. Among them, the price of 64GB DDR5 RDIMM for servers rose 150% month-over-month; the 12GB LPDDR5X on mobile rose 130%; and overall NAND flash saw a total increase of about 130%-150%.

Hua Fu Securities noted that the core driver behind this price surge comes from the rapid development of the AI industry, and large-scale investment by technology companies in AI infrastructure directly ignited storage demand. Although major DRAM manufacturers such as Samsung Electronics, SK hynix, Micron, CXMT, Nanya Tech, and others are expected to increase production by about 26% in 2026, and NAND production by about 24%, substantive expansion on the supply side will still take time. The shortage issue is expected to only have a chance of easing in the second half of 2027.

In the long term, the rise of domestically produced storage chips is becoming an important variable. It is expected that by 2028, CXMT’s DRAM market share could rise to above 10%, while Yangtze Memory’s share in the NAND sector is already about 13% and may further change the market landscape.

CITIC Securities also pointed out that with China pushing for technological self-reliance and strong downstream chip demand, domestic chip manufacturers continue to expand production capacity, significantly boosting demand for semiconductor equipment investment.

Semiconductor Equipment ETF Merchandising (561980) tracks the CSI Semiconductor index; among the top ten holdings are leading companies in semiconductor equipment, materials, and integrated circuit design and manufacturing, such as AMEC, Beiqi Huachuang, Beiqi Huachuang, SMIC (688981.SH), Hygon Information (688041.SH), Cambricon, Shanghai Silan (688126.SH), etc. The fund is 100% focused on the core chip industrial chain; the top-ten concentration exceeds 75%, and it is expected to benefit fully from the wave of domestic substitution.

According to data, as of March 20, the cumulative gains of the CSI Semiconductor Index from 2020 and from 2025 to date are 241% and 67%, respectively. It has significantly outperformed mainstream comparable semiconductor theme indices such as Kechuang chip indices and semiconductor materials and equipment indices, highlighting stronger index volatility and aggressiveness. (Data source: Wind, 2020.1.1-2026.3.20)