A magnitude-6.4 earthquake struck southern Taiwan early yesterday morning, prompting staff evacuations at some production lines, which could cause disruptions in shipments of flat panels.
“Utility supplies were normal and there were no reports of casualties or damage, but production of some equipment was suspended temporarily,” the administration office of Southern Taiwan Science Park said in a statement yesterday.
“Following standard safety procedures, workers were immediately evacuated after the earthquake,” it said.
The administration is in charge of Tainan Science Park and Kaohsiung Science Park — where 100-plus production lines, including solar cell maker Motech Industries Inc (茂迪), panel maker Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corp (奇美電子) and chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) — are located.
The intensity of the quake at Tainan Science Park was 5 on the Richter Scale, while that at Kaohsiung Science Park was 4, the statement said.
“Most of Chi Mei’s production lines have resumed operations,” Chi Mei spokesman Eddie Chen (陳彥松) said by telephone. “Some still need parts or adjustments and we’ll have to clean up the mess.”
AU Optronics Corp (友達光電), the nation’s largest manufacturer of liquid-crystal-display (LCD) panels, suffered “no significant impact” on its finances and operations, the company said in a stock exchange filing.
However, global LCD supply could be disrupted, Bank of America Merrill Lynch analyst Frank Lee said.
Nearly all of Chi Mei’s fabs were affected, although the severity remains unclear, Lee wrote in a note to clients, quoting initial company feedback.
“We could see a pretty significant disruption to the overall LCD supply chain” during the second and third quarters, he wrote.
Meanwhile in Tainan County, firefighters were called in when a fire started in an automated storage warehouse at an Everest Textiles plant in Shanshang Township (山上) following the quake.
United Microelectronics Corp (聯電), the world’s second-largest custom-chipmaker, suffered damage estimated at NT$55 million (US$1.7 million), as production equipment crashed and some tools sustained minor damage, chief financial officer Liu Chi-tung (劉啟東) told Central News Agency.
Production at its 12-inch factory at Tainan Science Park will be delayed by one day and its factory in Singapore will help meet shipment demand, he said.
TSMC estimated losses would be the equivalent of one-and-a-half days of production.
“Assessment reports show that the earthquake had a minimal impact at the Hsinchu fabs. While fabs in Tainan were more seriously affected, they have gradually resumed production,” the world’s largest custom-chip maker said in a statement on its Web site.
Motech Industries and E-Tone Solar Tech Co Ltd (益通光能) said the earthquake would not have a major impact on shipments.
As solar cell production is not as sophisticated as that for panels and chips, employee evacuations and equipment shutdown didn’t hurt as much, they said.
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