Japan has asked some Taiwanese manufacturers to cooperate in alternative production of semiconductors, Japanese Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Hiroshi Kajiyama said yesterday, after a chip plant owned by Renesas Electronics Corp was hit by a fire this month.
“We are in communication with several manufacturing equipment makers [in Taiwan] to speed up procurement,” Kajiyama told reporters after a Cabinet meeting.
“The ministry will also work together for a swift recovery by using all possible means,” he added.
Photo: Eugene Hoshiko, AP
A Renesas-owned Naka chip plant in northeast Japan was hit by fire earlier this month due to a power surge in one of the machines, putting more pressure on the broader chips industry amid a global shortage of semiconductors.
The company, which has about a 30 percent share of the global market for microcontroller unit chips used in vehicles, had initially said 11 machines were damaged in the fire, but yesterday said 23 machines need to be replaced.
Renesas chief executive officer Hidetoshi Shibata told a news conference that while production at the plant would resume within a month, recovery to pre-fire levels was expected to take 100 to 120 days from the incident.
He added that any short-term shipment of alternative chip production was impossible and the company would recuperate losses in the six months ending in December.
An extended outage could add to a global shortage of chips, which is disrupting some production of vehicles and electronic devices.
The Japanese government has called on equipment makers to help Renesas restore its production, with bureaucrats contacting companies at home and overseas to request they provide parts and machinery to the fire-hit company, a trade ministry official told reporters.
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