Renesa’s Chip
Renesas announced that it had completely stopped operations at two semiconductor factories and partially at another.
(Photo: Reuters)
Tokyo The earthquake in Japan exacerbates the shortage of parts in the automotive industry: the Japanese chip manufacturer Renesas and the supplier Murata had to partially stop their production because of the quake in the northeast of the country on Thursday. Renesas announced that it had completely stopped operations at two semiconductor factories and partially at another.
This includes the plant in Naka, which produces chips for the automotive industry. The industry suffered from a semiconductor shortage anyway and had to reduce its production as a result. “We are assessing the impact of the earthquake on our entire supply chain,” Renesas said. At the moment, the damage at the plant, including in the sensitive clean rooms, is being examined under the microscope. Murata said it had suspended operations at four factories after the earthquake. A fire broke out in a facility.
Renesas is considered an important supplier, as the group manufactures almost a third of all microcontroller chips that are installed in cars worldwide. Murata is one of the world’s leading suppliers of ceramic capacitors used in smartphones, computers and cars.
Other industries also responded to the quake. The Eneos refinery group stopped operations at several oil refineries. Carmaker Toyota cut the day shift at two factories after workers were evacuated during the night. Work at the two factories will initially be resumed in a throttled manner, and on Friday it should be completely running again, the carmaker said.
Top Jobs of the day
Find the best jobs now and
be notified by e-mail.
The magnitude 7.4 quake, which occurred just before midnight (local time) on Wednesday off the coast of Fukushima at a depth of 60 kilometers, killed four people and injured more than a hundred. Even several hours after the earthquake, thousands of households were without electricity and water, at times the electricity had also failed in parts of the capital Tokyo, more than 300 kilometers away. The operation of the Shinkansen high-speed train has been suspended.
More: Chip crisis: Semiconductor production is further affected by the Ukrainian war
