Chin-Poon Industrial Co (敬鵬) shares yesterday rebounded 7.28 percent to snap a 14-day losing streak as it prepares to restore parts of facilities that were suspended following a fatal blaze last weekend.
The nation’s biggest supplier of printed circuit boards for cars was expected to resume partial operations at its P1 and P5 facilities in Taoyuan’s Pingjhen District (平鎮) that were affected by a blast on Saturday night and ensuing fire.
However, the company said in a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange that it was still waiting for written notification from the Taoyuan City Government before restarting operations.
About 2 percent of the two facilities were ordered to shut down after city government investigators found that chemical storage at the sites lack leak detectors, among other issues, Chin-Poon spokesman Hsiao Kung-yen (蕭公彥) said on Tuesday.
The suspension would not have any significant effect on the company’s production, he said.
The company has installed leak detectors at the two facilities, which then passed an examination by the city government, Hsiao said.
However, the company’s P2 and P3 facilities, which were severely damaged by the blaze, remain shut down, he said.
The fire was extinguished after about 40 hours. Seven people died in the incident, including five firefighters.
Chin-Poon shares yesterday recovered to close at NT$42 in Taipei trading.
Trading volume soared to 19.51 million shares, the biggest daily turnover in 18 years, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed.
The P2 and P3 facilities are to remain closed for the next one to two months to allow for investigations by insurance companies, Hsiao said, adding that the company would then assess the feasibility of rebuilding production lines on site.
The facilities were insured for NT$1.3 billion (US$43.69 million).
The P2 and P3 facilities contributed about 15 percent, or NT$300 million, of Chin-Poon’s monthly revenue, Hsiao said.
To minimize reduction to its output, the firm plans to allocate manufacturing at facilities in China and Thailand to make up for the shortfall, he said.
Chin-Poon also has manufacturing facilities in Taoyuan’s Lujhu District (蘆竹).
The company was fined about NT$300,000 by labor authorities for work safety-related breaches, while the Taoyuan City Government fined it about NT$3 million for discharging toxic waste.
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