Earthquake prompts Renesas to suspend output at Japan semiconductor plants

[AzScorpion]

Here we go again. I swear this industry can not catch a break. After the firs and delays now an earthquake has hit all 3 of the plants from Renesas Electronics Corp. a key maker of semiconductors. Hopefully they're not down for long but any disruption at this point is bad news for the auto industry.

https://www.autonews.com/suppliers/...sas-suspend-output-japan-semiconductor-plants

Renesas Electronics Corp., a key maker of semiconductors for the global automotive industry, has suspended operations at three plants in Japan after a major earthquake hit the country’s northeast, triggering a tsunami, causing blackouts and snarling transportation.

Renesas said all three plants, its Naka, Takasaki and Yonezawa factories, are near the quake zone, which was centered off the Pacific coast from the city of Sendai. The 7.4-magnitude temblor rattled cities as far away as Tokyo when it struck shortly after 11:30 p.m. on Wednesday.

Any long-term interruption at Renesas output could broadside a global automotive industry already reeling from a worldwide semiconductor shortage that has hammered production and sales. All three of the affected plants produce chips used in the automotive sector.

In the latest natural disaster, Renesas said Thursday that electricity has been restored to the two plants that lost power overnight. The company is currently assessing the impact on equipment and products, as well as the safety of the facilities and the condition of clean rooms.

Renesas said it could not say when production might resume at the Naka and Takasaki factories. The company said it had partially resumed production of some test lines at its Yonezawa plant.

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[AzScorpion]

After reading a little more into this it could get a lot worse. The Ukraine produces about half of the Neon which are important components in the production of electronic chips. WIth the war going on this has forced the two supply firms over there to close down.

https://www.thedailystar.net/toggle...uction-limited-due-russia-ukraine-war-2985381

U
Ukrainian neon supply firms Ingas and Cryoin have recently closed down following the continued attack on Ukraine from Russia.

According to reports, Ukraine alone produces half of the world's neon, which are important components in the production of electronic chips. Reports further suggest that there have been threats to raise prices and aggravate the semiconductor shortage as well.

Some 45% to 54% of the world's semiconductor-grade neon, critical for the lasers used to make chips, comes from two Ukrainian companies, Ingas and Cryoin, according to Reuters calculations based on figures from the companies and market research firm Techcet. Global neon consumption for chip production reached about 540 metric tons last year, Techcet estimates.

Both firms have shuttered their operations, according to company representatives contacted by Reuters, as Russian troops have escalated their attacks on cities throughout Ukraine, killing civilians and destroying key infrastructure.

 

[Marpater]

Thanks for posting these very informative articles

Talk about an opportunity that should have been capitalized on years ago, the production of semiconductors in the this country what happened to it?

 

[AzScorpion]

Thanks for posting these very informative articles

Talk about an opportunity that should have been capitalized on years ago, the production of semiconductors in the this country what happened to it?

We got complacent and relied on other countries for way to long. I'm hoping they've learned their lesson (but I doubt it) and there should be some relief with the new plants opening up here. Unfortunately it's still going to take another year or two.

 

[RedlandRanger]

We got complacent and relied on other countries for way to long. I'm hoping they've learned their lesson (but I doubt it) and there should be some relief with the new plants opening up here. Unfortunately it's still going to take another year or two.

Part of the problem (as I understand it) is that it isn't just the chip fabs - it is all the little suppliers of the chip fabs that pop up around them - and all of those have moved offshore as well, so it isn't quite as simple as building new fabs - this stuff doesn't get undone overnight and it won't get fixed overnight unfortunately.

 

[AzScorpion]

The Neon is/could be one of the hardest to replace. Most (myself included) never thing beyond the actual chips and the other components involved in making them.

From the article above:

Ukrainian neon is a byproduct of Russian steel manufacturing. The gas, which is also used in laser eye surgery, is produced in China as well, but Chinese prices are rising steadily.

Neon prices rose 600% in the run-up to Russia's 2014 annexation of the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine, according to the U.S. International Trade Commission.

Companies elsewhere could initiate neon production but it would take nine months to two years to ramp up, according to Richard Barnett, chief marketing officer of Supplyframe, which provides market intelligence to companies across the global electronics sectors.

 

[RedDakooter05]

It sucks but I will admit I'm not liking the whole "Fuck the people, what about my chips!" attitude i've been seeing rise on social media.

Sucks ass and I'm tired of delays but god damn, lmao... People > materials.

 

[JDowns]

The semiconductor industry is fascinating to me, but I'm a nerd.

There are so many raw materials that are used in the production of our every day electronics and all the individual resources that are needed in that production are astounding. It only takes the removal of one cog in that wheel to be removed and things quickly get derailed.

It's great we are moving production of semiconductors here, with a $50bn plant going up in the Phoenix area here alone. But that plant is useless without materials. That is one area China has played the chess game well, by going into developing countries and securing material rights.

But when it comes to semiconductors we do hold one card up our sleeves, Spruce Pine Mine in North Carolina.

 

[RedDakooter05]

But when it comes to semiconductors we do hold one card up our sleeves, Spruce Pine Mine in North Carolina.

Do tornados occur in that region?

 

[wanted33]

Well shit, if it ain't one thing, it's another. I'm guessing now that my Bronco will be a 2032.

 

[MountainGoat]

They should just do a special emergency measure: Allow carmakers to make carbed Chevy Chevettes and Ford Fiestas from the 1980s again.

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