Teco Electric & Machinery Co (東元電機) reported a big fire in its Taoyuan warehouse yesterday just after a magnitude 7 earthquake struck the country, while high-tech companies in Hsinchu Science-based Industrial Park (新竹科學園區) reported no disruption to operations.
The benchmark TAIEX fell as much as 0.8 percent after the quake but recovered later to close 2 percent lower at 5,820.8.
A Teco official said that immediately after the quake rattled the nation at 12:08pm yesterday, Teco's storehouse in Taoyuan's Guanyin township was reported catching fire.
While stressing the fire had nothing to do with the temblor, Amy Chen (
The fire was put out in four hours and the police were still trying to establish the cause of the blaze as of press time yesterday, Chen said.
"Since the incident did not affect our production lines, the company remains in normal operations," she said.
With all the products covered in full insurance, Teco estimated that it will have to pay around NT$20 million in losses, Chen said.
Teco shares edged down by NT$0.05 to close at NT$10.05 yesterday on the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
Nankang Rubber Tire Co (南港輪胎) also reported, in a statement it filed to the exchange, that its factory smokestacks in Taipei's Nangang district were seriously damaged by the quake. The statement did not elaborate on the extent of the losses, but it said there was no major impact on production.
No quake-induced losses were reported as of press time at the Hsinchu Science-based Industrial Park, the nation's "Silicon Valley," or at other science parks across the country.
Major operators, such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電), United Microelectronics Corp (聯電), AU Optronics Corp (友達光電) and Chunghwa Picture Tubes Ltd (中華映管), said they were not affected.
"We have no immediate damage at our plants, but we will check to ensure our production lines haven't been affected," TSMC Spokesman Tzeng Jinnhaw (曾晉皓) told the Bloomberg news service yesterday.
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