Sibelco is basically the world's only supplier of ultra-pure quartz. Their mining and processing facilities for ultra-pure quartz are located in Spruce Pine, NC, which has experienced flooding as a result of Hurricane Helene. The ultra-pure quartz they produce is used to make Czochralski crucibles, which are essential for forming large crystals of silicon.
This market resolves YES if a major semiconductor fab announces before September 30, 2025 that its production has been limited due a shortage of:
* ultra-pure quartz, OR
* Czochralski crucibles, OR
* semiconductor-grade silicon crystals,
UNLESS this shortage is very clearly not due to the effects of Hurricane Helene.
Otherwise, resolves NO. I will use my best judgement.
1,000@NivlacM Well if all of the crucibles in the world disappeared tomorrow, we would have to sit on our hands until we could make more (once reserves of monocrystalline silicon run out). The good news is that there are extant crucibles and some reserves of silicon. I don't personally have any idea how large the reserves are.