Earthquake prompts Renesas to droop output at Japan semiconductor crops

TOKYO – Renesas Electronics Corp., a key maker of semiconductors for the global automotive industry, has suspended operations at three crops in Japan after a major earthquake hit the nation’s northeast, triggering a tsunami, inflicting blackouts and snarling transportation.

Renesas stated all three crops, its Naka, Takasaki and Yonezawa factories, are close to the quake zone, which was centered off the Pacific coast from town of Sendai. The 7.4-magnitude temblor rattled cities as distant as Tokyo when it struck shortly after 11:30 p.m. on Wednesday.

Any long-term interruption at Renesas output might broadside a world automotive trade already reeling from a worldwide semiconductor shortage that has hammered manufacturing and gross sales. All three of the affected crops produce chips used within the automotive sector.

The quake hit in the identical space because the epicenter of the massive 9.0-magnitude earthquake-tsunami catastrophe that rocked the nation virtually precisely 11 years in the past, on March 11, 2011. That quake killed greater than 19,000 folks and took Renesas’ Naka plant offline for months.

Within the newest pure catastrophe, Renesas stated Thursday that electrical energy has been restored to the 2 crops that misplaced energy in a single day. The corporate is presently assessing the impression on gear and merchandise, in addition to the protection of the services and the situation of unpolluted rooms.

Renesas stated it couldn’t say when manufacturing would possibly resume on the Naka and Takasaki factories. The corporate stated it had partially resumed manufacturing of some take a look at strains at its Yonezawa plant.

The Naka and Yonezawa crops make microcontrollers for automotive and industrial use. The Takasaki plant makes so-called PMOS chips utilized in changing AC-DC electrical currents.

The crops shut down mechanically when energy was disrupted in a single day. Even when there isn’t a harm, it can take a number of days to utterly restart the services, a Renesas spokesman stated.