FUSION: MARKET INTELLIGENCE
Earthquake in Japan Adds to Existing Supply Chain Turbulence
On March 16, 2022, a magnitude 7.4 earthquake jolted parts of Japan. The quake was felt off the coast of Fukushima and spanned to Tokyo, where buildings reportedly swayed violently. Following the earthquake, a small tsunami reached shore but the low-risk advisory was lifted Thursday morning.
Assessment of the earthquake’s impact is still underway. Fusion Worldwide’s global team has collected information about manufacturers in the region and the potential effects this event will have on the supply chain.
The information below will be updated as information is collected:
| Manufacturer | Status of Operations |
| Sony Group Corp |
Sony halted operations at two of its factories that manufacture the following products:
The factories are located in Miyagi prefecture and Yamagata prefecture and are still under assessment to check equipment and confirm the safety of workers/operations. |
|
SUMCO Corporation Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd. |
SUMCO and Shin-Etsu, both have raw wafer plants in Fukushima that were affected by the earthquake. Effects are still being assessed, but facilities have been shut down and the likelihood of damage to machines and silicon wafer input is high. |
|
KIOXIA Corporation |
Kioxia’s K1 factory in Kitakami was in a major earthquake zone. The factory has since shutdown operations to inspect the possible damage. Already, the overall impact appears to be minimal, but the wafer input has been partially damaged. The factory had previously downgraded its operation capacity following contamination in early January, which impacted the NAND flash memory market. |
| Murata Manufacturing Co Ltd
|
Murata, which is a primary supplier of ceramic capacitors used in smartphones, computers and cars, reportedly halted operations at four factories in Japan on March 16. These are the four factories affected:
The buildings have reportedly been damaged as well as some of the equipment at three of the four factories. The Tohoku factory had minimal damage and is expected to resume operations on March 18. |
| Renesas Electronics Corp |
Three Renesas factories are located near the epicenter of the earthquake and have suspended operations in response:
The state of each facility is still being assessed; however, it is reported that power has been restored following a temporary blackout. Renesas released its official statement about the impact of the March 16 earthquake here. As a major manufacturing contributor to the automotive industry, the shutdown of multiple factories will likely lead to later delays to supply chain operations. |
|
Toshiba Corporation |
This is the second earthquake in 2022 that has impacted Toshiba’s supply chain. An earthquake in January resulted in suspended operations at its plant in Oita, Japan. This affected output of LSI chips and optical semiconductors. The March 16 earthquake is expected to create additional strain as Toshiba assesses damage to production facilities. The manufacturer plans to resume full-scale production on March 22. Reported lead times already extend 1-2 years. |
This earthquake in Japan will contribute to an already turbulent supply chain. Lead times, pricing and logistics costs will likely be affected over time as a result of this additional disruption.