Advanced Semiconductor Engineering Inc (ASE, 日月光半導體), the world’s biggest chip packager and tester, yesterday said it is seeking a second water source for its production lines in the south because of the havoc wreaked by Typhoon Morakot.
Over the past week, ASE has spent more than NT$10 million on purchasing clean water from private water companies to maintain normal operations.
State-run Taiwan Water Corp (自來水公司) has drastically cut the water supply to manufacturers in industrial areas in Kaohsiung since Aug. 8.
Taiwan Water said yesterday it had sent water tanks to industrial areas to help ease the supply constraint after it started rationing water last Thursday.
Kaohsiung is suffering a shortage of clean water, while some of Taiwan Water’s facilities were damaged by Morakot and have yet to be repaired.
“We have not been able to get enough water yet. Over the past week, we have been buying water from private companies to help us solve this problem and we will continue to do so,” an ASE official told the Taipei Times over the phone.
“The company’s production lines have not been affected by the water shortage but the extra expense is driving up our costs,” said the official, who declined to be named.
Every NT$20 million the company spends on water could lower ASE’s gross margin by 0.1 percentage points.
Its second-quarter gross margin is estimated at 21.7 percent, said Kenneth Lee (李克揚), head of Fubon Securities Investment Services Co Ltd’s (富邦投顧) research team.
“The longer the water problem remains unsolved, the bigger the impact on gross margin,” Lee said.
Lee said local governments would look for an immediate solution to the water problem to prevent investors from being discouraged.
In a statement on the Ministry of Economic Affairs’ Web site, Taiwan Water said it was restoring water supply gradually, but was not sure when the supply would return to normal levels.
As of yesterday, the company had delivered 1,150 tonnes of water in water tanks to 40 companies at the Nantze Export Processing Zone (楠梓加工出口區), it said.
More than 100 companies are suffering water shortages, including big names like Yieh United Steel Corp (燁聯鋼鐵), Orient Semiconductor Electronics Ltd (華泰電子), WUS Printed Circuit Co Ltd (楠電) and Sumiko Electronics Taiwan Co Ltd (台灣住礦電子).
While there are still complaints that some higher altitude areas in Kaohsiung still have no water supply, Taiwan Water said it had gradually resumed water supplies to the Jenwu (仁武) and Tashe (大社) industrial zones.
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