Silicon shocks: The nature risk the semiconductor industry can’t ignore

In late 2024, Hurricane Helene swept through North Carolina, temporarily halting operations at Spruce Pine, the site that produces nearly 70% of the world’s supply of high-purity quartz, a critical input for semiconductor manufacturing.

The disruption was felt across the supply chain. While mining operations resumed, transport infrastructure took a hit, with some routes expected to remain affected well into this year. This event revealed an increasingly familiar challenge for the semiconductor sector: the growing impact of nature and climate volatility on supply chain stability.

But it’s not just about one storm.

The World Economic Forum reports that over a quarter of semiconductor fabrication plants under construction are in areas projected to face extreme water stress by 2040. This includes regions like Arizona and Taiwan that are already facing significant drought risks.

The scale of investment in chip production is immense. The U.S. CHIPS Act alone has committed billions to strengthening domestic manufacturing. Yet, many site selection and supply strategies still focus primarily on geopolitics, with less attention paid to environmental vulnerability or resource dependencies, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

Meanwhile, access to key raw materials like gallium, germanium, and silicon remains highly concentrated in a few countries. This introduces another layer of exposure — and underscores the need for broader resilience planning.

This is a complex challenge. Semiconductor leaders are navigating geopolitical uncertainty, economic pressure, and technical innovation all at once. But what Hurricane Helene reminded the industry is this: environmental risk is now part of that equation.

That’s why a growing number of industry leaders are integrating nature and climate insight into sourcing, site planning, and investment decisions — treating environmental stability as a foundation for long-term competitiveness.

At Earth Blox, we help organisations map environmental exposure across their supply chains, simulate future scenarios, and understand risk across nodes — from raw materials to manufacturing hubs to global distribution points.

Because in this decade, resilience won’t come from retrofitting the past. It will come from forecasting the future and building environmental intelligence into every strategic decision.