AI infrastructure buyers are increasingly funding chip purchases with debt: Broadcom is discussing $30-50 billion of financing for OpenAI's custom chips, a $60 billion Broadcom-backed package is advancing for Anthropic, and SpaceX is seeking $40 billion for NVIDIA GPUs.
TSMC's third-quarter revenue reached a record NT$1.49 trillion, beating both its own guidance and the LSEG SmartEstimate, with September sales of NT$511.86 billion and analysts expecting net profit to jump 64% year on year.
TrendForce projects conventional DRAM contract prices up 10-15% quarter on quarter and NAND Flash up 15-20% in 4Q26, with enterprise SSD the only category accelerating, while NVIDIA's NVHBM pushes Micron and Samsung toward foundry-made base dies.
LME copper settled 1.6% higher at $14,540 a tonne for a 2% weekly gain as Antofagasta's Centinela stoppage escalated into a hunger strike, the Yangshan import premium hit a four-year high of $135 and warehouse stocks fell to a six-week low.
Contracting stayed heavy with roughly 83 fresh orders in the week to October 7 and 147 recorded in week 40, as owners booked VLCCs, LR2 product tankers, gas carriers and bulkers at firm prices with delivery out to 2029 and 2030.
Hurricane Isaias has shut in nearly 1.46 million barrels per day of US Gulf of Mexico crude, or 71.5% of regional output, while Brent held above $100 on renewed Hormuz tanker attacks and record supertanker freight rates.
The USDA said Farm Service Agency Agriculture Risk Coverage and Price Loss Coverage programmes will generate roughly $13.8bn in gross payments for the 2025 crop year, a record for the revenue and price safety net. The outlay coincides with heavy US corn stocks, softer nitrogen prices and Black Sea shipping risk that continues to underpin wheat.
TSMC's third-quarter revenue reached a record NT$1.49 trillion, or about US$46.71bn, up 50% year on year and ahead of the LSEG SmartEstimate of NT$1.46tn, on September sales of NT$511.86bn. Analysts expect third-quarter net profit to jump 64% to NT$740.8bn when the foundry reports on 15 October.
A new Production-at-Risk Index from GEM Mining Consulting puts an average 5.2% of output at Chile's 14 largest copper mines at risk, with El Teniente at 9%, Los Pelambres at 8% and Escondida at 7.5%. The assessment lands as more than 700 workers strike at Antofagasta's Centinela and Chilean production runs 9.3% below 2025 levels through July.
NVIDIA's custom NVHBM architecture moves the memory controller onto the HBM base die, prompting Micron and Samsung to source base dies from external foundries including TSMC rather than building them in-house. The shift lands as suppliers push 2027 HBM prices sharply higher: Samsung is reportedly seeking more than double current levels for HBM4, while TrendForce sees industry average HBM ASP up 121% next year.
Shipbuilding activity accelerated again this week with 83 fresh newbuilding orders spanning tankers, container ships, bulk carriers, LNG carriers and car carriers, and Chinese yards took a substantial share. New VLCC prices have climbed 8.4% this year to $138m while five-year-old VLCCs are up 70% to $196.3m, and HD Hyundai agreed to buy Goltens Worldwide for $247.5m to expand its ship repair footprint.
Brent held above $100 a barrel on Friday even as prices eased on signs Washington will not strike Iran before the November midterms, after a wave of tanker attacks cut Strait of Hormuz traffic to a two-month low. WTI stayed near $91 as US Gulf producers shut in about 1.3 million barrels a day ahead of Hurricane Isaias, while fresh US sanctions targeted 17 vessels moving Iranian crude.
Testing has become a binding constraint on AI chip output, with OSAT providers signing capacity agreements longer than a year, raising prices and lifting capital spending well above plan.
US nitrogen fertilizer prices moved sharply higher in the latest weekly survey, with urea up 9.1% and anhydrous ammonia up 15.9%, even as the USDA prepared record farm safety-net payments for the 2025 crop year.
Benchmark copper stayed close to record levels after more than 700 workers walked out at Antofagasta's Centinela mine in Chile, while gold slid to a two-month low on a firmer dollar and elevated yields.
A fresh wave of tanker and car carrier newbuilding contracts pushed more tonnage into Chinese and Japanese yards this week, with owners accepting 2029 and 2030 delivery slots and paying firm prices to secure berths.
Samsung Electronics guided to a record third-quarter operating profit of KRW 107.4 trillion, up 782.5% year on year, as HBM4 shipments and surging conventional DRAM prices reshaped the memory market.
Brent crude swung back above $100 a barrel after a fresh wave of attacks on tankers in the Strait of Hormuz cut traffic to a two-month low, while US Gulf of Mexico operators shut in output ahead of a tropical storm.
Liquid-cooled DGX Station-class workstations are delivering a full Grace Blackwell stack to individual engineers, while DIGITIMES expects custom ASIC shipments to pass GPU shipments in 2027 with ABF substrate capacity emerging as the new constraint.
Supply chain sources say TSMC has secured 3-6% wafer price increases for 2027 with order visibility now extending to 2030, while an industry conference in Singapore highlighted advanced packaging moving toward full system integration and Micron accelerated its capital programme.