Xuzhou B&C Chemical

Xuzhou B&C Chemical is one of China's earliest and best-known makers of semiconductor photoresist materials. It positions itself as a fully integrated domestic supplier covering photoresist monomers, specialty resins, photoacid generators (PAGs), finished photoresists and electronic-grade solvents. The company built its reputation as a monomer supplier to global photoresist makers: in 2012 it became the only non-Japanese monomer supplier to JSR. Since then it has moved downstream into KrF, dry and immersion ArF, I-line, G-line, packaging and electron-beam photoresists for Chinese wafer fabs. Its backers include Huawei's Hubble Technology Investment, Huamao Technology and state-linked funds, and it reached unicorn status in 2023 at a valuation of about RMB 7 billion. Its strategic value as a substitute for imported lithography materials is high. Its financial record is weak, however: it reported losses every year from 2021 to 2024, it failed a 2021–2023 performance commitment, and it faces several investor and creditor lawsuits in 2026. Its trajectory now depends on whether domestic fabs adopt its advanced KrF and ArF resists at volume.

What the company does. Xuzhou B&C Chemical researches, develops, manufactures and sells materials used in semiconductor photolithography. Photoresist is the light-sensitive coating applied to a wafer before exposure. After exposure and development it forms the pattern that later etch or implant steps transfer into the device. The company's products cover the whole photoresist bill of materials:

Photoresist monomers: These small-molecule building blocks (for example acrylate and methacrylate monomers with acid-labile protecting groups) are polymerised into photoresist resins. This was the company's original business, which it sold to international photoresist formulators.

Photoresist resins: These are the polymers that form the backbone of KrF and ArF chemically amplified resists.

Photoacid generators (PAGs): These compounds release acid when exposed, driving the chemical amplification reaction.

Finished photoresists: These include ArF (193 nm) dry and immersion, KrF (248 nm), I-line (365 nm), G-line (436 nm), electron-beam resists and advanced-packaging resists.

Electronic-grade solvents and ancillary chemicals: The production base was built with 10,000 tonnes a year of electronic solvent capacity.

Company's own description. The company describes itself as a national high-tech enterprise that researches, produces and sells mid- to high-end photoresists, photoresist monomers and photoresist resins. It says it has achieved independent, domestically controlled supply across monomer, resin, photoacid and finished photoresist. Its corporate profile describes its vision as enriching the material basis of humanity's future world and states a mission of advancing the domestic production of key semiconductor materials. In 2021, during the Hubble financing, the company described itself as the only domestic manufacturer able to produce mid- to high-end photoresist monomers at scale.

Independent characterisation. In practice the business has two parts that differ in maturity:

1. A mature, export-oriented monomer and intermediate business. The company has sold to JSR since 2012 and, according to the 2021 research cited by Huamao's advisers, to Intel. Huamao's 2021 investment materials described the monomer range as covering more than 90% of the global photoresist customer base and named the company as an inventor and producer of advanced EUV photoresist monomers. Before 2021 this business, together with pharmaceutical intermediates, generated most of the company's revenue. One 2026 media analysis reports that more than half of revenue in the first nine months of 2020 came from pharmaceutical intermediates rather than photoresist products.

2. A growth-stage domestic photoresist business. This business is run largely through the subsidiary Hanto Chemical (汉拓化学). It is still in qualification and early ramp-up at Chinese fabs. Huamao's investor-relations statements say that from 2022 the company's ArF immersion, ArF dry, KrF and I-line products passed validation at several downstream customers and won orders. The company also says it has more than 40 mid- to high-end photoresist product series.

Business and revenue model. Revenue comes almost entirely from direct sales of manufactured chemical products. No subscription, licensing or service revenue has been disclosed. Photoresists are sold under qualification-based supply agreements: once a fab qualifies a resist for a specific process layer, switching costs are high and volumes recur. Monomers and resins are sold business-to-business to photoresist formulators. The company reports more than 100 customers, mostly domestic semiconductor manufacturers including major integrated-circuit fabs. In 2021 Huamao's advisers reported that Hanto Chemical served more than 40 customers and was a qualified supplier to Shanghai Huahong and Yangtze Memory Technologies (YMTC).

Value-chain position. The company sits in the upstream materials layer of the semiconductor supply chain. It buys basic organic chemicals and solvents. It sells monomers and resins to other resist formulators and finished resists to front-end wafer fabs, advanced-packaging houses and compound-semiconductor and display makers. Its main differentiator is vertical integration from monomer to finished resist. Most Chinese competitors buy resins or PAGs, often from Japan, while B&C makes its own.

End-markets served.

Logic foundry (mature and advanced nodes): Products used: Dry ArF (90/65/55 nm), immersion ArF (40/28 nm), KrF, I-line; Status: Qualification and early volume at domestic foundries

Memory (3D NAND, DRAM): Products used: KrF (including thick-film), ArF; Status: Supplier to YMTC (2021). ArF supplied in small quantities to memory makers

Advanced packaging: Products used: Packaging photoresists; Status: Commercial

Compound semiconductors / power / LED: Products used: G-line, I-line; Status: Commercial

Global photoresist formulators: Products used: Monomers, resins; Status: Mature export business (JSR since 2012)

Pharmaceutical intermediates (legacy): Products used: Fine-chemical intermediates; Status: Historical revenue contributor

Stated strategy. Management's messaging has stayed consistent across company materials, the 2023 financing announcement and the March 2026 NPC remarks:

1. Full-chain independence. Keep in-house control of every layer of the photoresist bill of materials (monomer, resin, PAG, formulation) so that Chinese fabs have a supply chain free of foreign chokepoints.

2. Focus on KrF and ArF. Concentrate core resources on KrF and ArF resists and move to "accelerated breakthroughs and large-scale application". Fu has described the domestic industry as moving from "single-point breakthroughs" to "systemic development".

3. Five-year advanced-node target. Achieve mass production of several core photoresist materials for advanced nodes within five years (stated in March 2026).

4. Platform ambition. Use the 2023 funding to speed up self-developed photoresist R&D, expand capacity and turn the company into a refined-chemicals platform.

5. Cluster leadership. Act as "chain leader" for the Pizhou semiconductor industry alliance, sharing compliance, invoicing and R&D-cost accounting practices with suppliers.

Initiatives in the last 24 months.

• Pujiang semiconductor JV with Jiangsu Baoxin Technology and the Pujiang state fund (RMB 320 million registered capital) — Date: Jan 2025; Status: Abandoned amid disputes

Dongyang Huaxin 8,000 t photolithography materials base: Date: Acquired 51% in Dec 2023; Status: Production-line construction under way (2026)

14 nm immersion ArF development: Date: Breakthrough reported in 2024; Status: Development and qualification

Scale-up of KrF and ArF products at leading foundries: Date: Announced Mar 2026; Status: Early ramp

• Tax and compliance programme ("dual review and joint signature" for contracts, triple verification for tax filings) — Date: 2025–2026; Status: In place

No medium-term financial targets have been published since the 2021–2023 commitments, which were missed.

A. Photoresist monomers.

B. Photoresist resins and photoacid generators.

C. Finished photoresists.

D. Electronic-grade solvents and ancillary chemicals.

The company states that it has developed more than 40 mid- to high-end photoresist product series. It also reported launching 44 ArF and KrF photoresist development projects in a single year (2022, Huamao investor commentary). Pricing is negotiated per customer and per qualified product. List prices are not publicly disclosed.