Last year, in the chip shortage caused by the imbalance between supply and demand under the epidemic, a fire broke out at Renesas Electronics‘ main factory in Ibaraki Prefecture, which just made Japanese car companies experience a worse shock. To what extent this strong earthquake will further exacerbate the current chip shortage, the current situation is still unclear.

  In addition to causing casualties, the strong earthquake off the coast of Fukushima also had a significant impact on the Japanese economy, including Japan‘s semiconductor chip manufacturers and the automobile industry.

Toyota suspends 11 domestic factories due to earthquake

  Japan‘s Toyota Motor Corporation said on the 18th that a strong earthquake off the coast of Fukushima Prefecture on the 16th affected parts suppliers. As a result, Toyota will suspend the operation of some domestic factories from the 21st to the 23rd of this month. Among them, there are 18 production lines in 11 plants including the Motomachi Plant in Toyota City, Aichi Prefecture. Production of 20,000 vehicles is expected to be affected.

Three Subaru plants temporarily suspend production due to earthquake

  Japan‘s Subaru Motor said on the 18th that the company‘s three domestic factories in Japan will be suspended for two days. The strong earthquake off the coast of Fukushima Prefecture on the 16th affected parts suppliers and disrupted their supply. The number of affected car production is currently unknown.

Japan: Earthquake shuts down many semiconductor factories

  Renesas Electronics, one of Japan‘s major chip manufacturers, announced on the 17th that due to the earthquake, the company‘s three factories in Ibaraki Prefecture, Gunma Prefecture and Yamagata Prefecture have now stopped production, and the staff are working on it. The safety of the plant and production equipment is confirmed. Two of them suffered power outages after the earthquake. In addition, Toshiba‘s semiconductor factory in Iwate Prefecture and Sony‘s related factory in Miyagi Prefecture were also shut down after the earthquake.

  Person in charge of publicity of Renesas Electronics Co., Ltd. in Japan: Once an earthquake occurs, our factory will automatically stop production, and will resume after safety confirmation. It is still in the confirmation stage.

  During the interview, the reporter learned that whether the resumption of work mainly depends on whether the production equipment is damaged in the earthquake. Although judging from the replies from the relevant person in charge, chip manufacturers are currently optimistic about the prospect of resumption of work, but there is still no clear conclusion about when they will be able to resume work.

  The head of publicity of Renesas Electronics Co., Ltd. in Japan: It is still uncertain when production will resume. From past experience, it will take at least a few days.

  Japanese chip manufacturers have previously affected related supply chains due to earthquakes, including the 311 earthquake in 2011, which affected the production of Japanese car companies. Last year, in the chip shortage caused by the imbalance between supply and demand under the epidemic, a fire broke out at Renesas Electronics‘ main factory in Ibaraki Prefecture, which just made Japanese car companies experience a worse shock. To what extent this strong earthquake will further exacerbate the current chip shortage, the current situation is still unclear.