According to the latest information from the Central Meteorological Administration, at 1:49 this afternoon, an earthquake measuring 5.2 on the Richter scale occurred in Taiwan, China, with a depth of 30.2 kilometers. The epicenter is 23.5 kilometers northeast of the Hualien County Government. The largest earthquake intensity is Hualien County, Yilan County and Nantou County level 4.
In 18 years, Hualien experienced a strong earthquake of 6.0 on the Richter scale. During the 18 years of earthquake, the semiconductor industry had impacted global prices, which had a certain impact.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd., UMC, Power Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd. set up factories here, and wafer fabs, packaging and testing plants may be affected
As we all know, Taiwan occupies a near-monopoly position in the key links of the semiconductor industry chain. The global foundries TSMC, UMC, Power Semiconductor Manufacturing and other well-known foundries have established bases in Taiwan. If Taiwan encounters a serious natural disaster, it will be quite Yu moved the "fate gate" of the global semiconductor industry chain.
IC Insights specifically pointed out that if Taiwan encounters a severe earthquake or typhoon, it may have a severe impact on the overall electronics industry supply chain. According to the agency, the customers of foundries are very diverse, and they are also a single source of manufacturing for many different types of components. Therefore, if the foundry's capacity is damaged, the impact will be higher than the damage suffered by independent IDM factories.
In addition, DRAM giant Nanke, panel manufacturer AUO, etc. all have factories in Hualien.
Upstream equipment manufacturers pointed out that due to the very high accuracy of equipment in semiconductor and panel factories, the seismic requirements for plant and equipment are also much higher than those of ordinary companies, but because the front-end process of semiconductors and panels will use more chemicals Most of them are toxic substances. In the event of a major earthquake, it is not the fear of damage to the machine and displacement, but the fear of leakage of the equipment pipeline. Therefore, if the earthquake intensity reaches a certain level, even if the earthquake does not cause a power outage and interruption of the production line, according to regulations, employees in the clean room will be temporarily evacuated in a planned manner.
As for the semiconductor-related supply chain, packaging and testing companies responded that basically packaging and testing plants will not respond until the seismic intensity is above five.
2. Aftershocks continue, chip supply may be blocked. The current magnitude of the earthquake is 5.2. According to the factory staff of the fab, semiconductor process equipment and machines, depending on the sensitivity process, will automatically start if the earthquake reaches M3 or M4 or above. The protection device has tripped. If the shock amplitude reaches level 4, all workers in the plant must be evacuated in accordance with safety regulations. At present, there are continuous aftershocks and no workers are working, which will affect the supply of some chips.
It is worth noting that the length of the shutdown time of these chip factory lines will also directly affect the supply and price of global chips. For example, in 2015, the earthquake in Kaohsiung, Taiwan caused the suspension of production at TSMC's Zhongke and Nanke plants, causing global logic chip prices to rise by 10% to 20%. In 2018, a magnitude 6.2 earthquake occurred in Hualien County, Taiwan. After the earthquake, the price of MLCC skyrocketed.
At present, the foundry capacity is in short supply, including TSMC, UMC, World Advanced, Power Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd., etc. The orders in the fourth quarter are full. In the first half of next year, the advanced process and mature process capacity have been fully booked by customers. Prices have become the norm. Now that the earthquake has broken out, I don't know how much the earthquake will have on the production capacity of Taiwan's semiconductor industry, but it is really a sweat.
Earthquakes are natural disasters that frequently occur in Taiwan. People in Taiwan are almost accustomed to earthquakes of different sizes in their daily lives;
And because there have been several severe earthquakes in the history of Taiwan, and the painful experience of personal experience, the local people and the industry have always attached great importance to the safety of building structures, and the relevant building regulations are also strict. This is especially true of the various fabs that play a key role in the semiconductor industry chain. The seismic resistance of the production line and the rapid resilience after an earthquake have a very high level.
However, the specific impact has yet to be responded by various manufacturers.
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