DRAM spot prices have risen significantly with recent quotes soaring more than 5% on a single day, buoyed by a recent pull-in of short lead time orders from China's tablet market, according to industry sources. Continued tight supply of DRAM chips, as well as inventory replenishment by PC OEMs, also contributed to the price rally.

The ongoing price rally in the spot market is expected to keep contract market prices for December at high levels, or send them even higher, the sources said.

A fire at SK Hynix' China fab in September has caused a reduction in the global supply of DRAM memory, resulting in an unexpected rally in the chip prices during the traditionally weak season. PC OEMs after more than two months of inventory adjustment have begun to rebuild stockpiles, the sources said.

DRAM contract prices have been rising at a gradual pace, thanks to capacity adjustments by SK Hynix and some other chipmakers to offset the impact of tight supply arising from the fire accident at SK Hynix's China fab, the sources indicated.

Accoding to the latest data from DRAMeXchange, DRAM contract prices grew in the second half of November with prices for mainstream 4GB modules coming to US$33 on average. The price growth was mainly due to tight supply experienced by one of the world's major chipmakers, which encountered production yield issues.

DRAMeXchange predicted previously that DRAM contract prices will register another rally in December, if the unnamed chipmaker's supply remains tight and its clients continue to suffer from shipment delays.

DRAMeXchange has forecast that sales of the global DRAM industry will reach US$35.2 billion in 2013, representing growth of about 32% from 2012. Sales will climb further to approach US$40 billion in 2014.

By: DocMemory
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