Japanese chip manufacturer Renesas Electronics Corp on Saturday restarted production about a month after a factory fire that threatens to worsen a global chip shortage, local media said.
The fire on March 19 at its plant near Tokyo came with automakers already battling semiconductor supply problems, in part because of increased demand for chips from manufacturers of laptops, tablets and gaming devices.
Renesas, a key supplier of automotive semiconductors, saw 600m2 of factory floor damaged in the blaze.
Photo: AFP
The company said on April 10 that it completed repairs in the fire-hit cleanrooms and they came online for initial output.
Jiji Press and other news reports said the firm partially began production on Saturday morning, with plans to ship initial products in about a month.
Immediate confirmation of the reports was not available.
Renesas has so far hoped to restart operations at the factory unit producing 300mm wafers — a key piece of tech for modern vehicles — in about a month.
The plant would not return to 100 percent capacity for “between 90 days to 120 days,” CEO Hidetoshi Shibata said late last month.
Company officials were tight-lipped about which of their customers would receive early supplies of semiconductors, and also said it would take more time to pinpoint the cause of the fire.
With the blaze sparking concern about the impact on the world’s chip supply, Japan’s government and some of Renesas’ customers, including auto giant Toyota Motor Corp, have offered help.
During a summit on Friday in Washington, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and US President Joe Biden agreed to “partner on sensitive supply chains, including on semiconductors, promoting and protecting the critical technologies that are essential to our security and prosperity,” their joint statement said.
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