China’s Ministry of Commerce said on Wednesday it has launched an anti-dumping investigation into imports of dichlorosilane originating from Japan, citing concerns over potential harm to the domestic industry.

The ministry said the dumping investigation period will cover July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2025, while the period for assessing industrial injury will run from Jan. 1, 2022 to June 30, 2025.

The product under investigation, known as dichlorosilane — also referred to as silicon dichloride or dichloromethylsilane — is primarily used in semiconductor manufacturing processes such as thin-film deposition, including epitaxial, silicon carbide, silicon nitride, silicon oxide and polysilicon films.

It is widely used in the production of logic chips, memory chips, analog chips and other types of semiconductors, and is also an important precursor for synthesising silicon-based materials such as polysilazanes and other advanced chemical compounds, the ministry said.

The investigation follows a petition from China’s domestic industry, the ministry added, without disclosing further details.