Japanese car chip manufacturer Renesas (Renesas) has a fire in its factory in Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. Renesas CEO Hideri Shibata said in a subsequent press conference that it will take about a month to reproduce products after the factory fire.

Subsequently, Renesas Electronics also issued a statement stating that the cause of the fire in the initial investigation plant was caused by the excessive current in the electroplating tank. As for the overall follow-up impact, the market estimates that it may take up to 3 months to resume normal supply, and the impact on customers will also appear in 1 month.

According to Japanese media, after a fire in a factory in Ibaraki Prefecture, Renesas Electronics Japan, it is estimated that it will take one month for production to resume operation, and if it is to return to normal supply, it is estimated that it will take more than three. Time of month.

Renesas CEO Hideri Shibata pointed out at a recent press conference that the company will do its best to resume the operation of the factory within one month. However, there are still some uncertain factors that will affect the timetable for the formal resumption of work. In addition, Shibata Yingli also admitted frankly that he was worried about a significant impact on semiconductor supply.

Because the fire affected the product, it was an automotive microcontroller (MUC) mainly produced by a 12-inch factory. At present, according to statistics, Renesas Electronics has a global market share of 20% and ranks No. 2 in the world in terms of revenue. It is mainly supplied to Japanese automakers Toyota and Honda.

Studies have pointed out that the fire may make it more difficult for the automotive industry to dispatch semiconductors in the next six months.

According to Renesas Electronics, the inventory including semi-finished products is only about one month. On the other hand, the person in charge of a semiconductor distributor also pointed out that, including the inventory of agents, it is only 2-3 months, while car manufacturers and large component factories have almost no inventory. It is estimated that it will take more than 3 months to return to the level before the fire as a whole.

Regarding this fire, Renesas’ main customer Honda also held a press conference to announce that there will be no immediate impact, but the inventory will begin to run out after one month, and production may be affected in April. Honda also said that it will look for other supply alternative factories, hoping that the production line will not be shut down.

As for Toyota, it will also try to change the production model and the possibility of alternative production, and will carefully evaluate the impact on production volume.

Although Renesas Electronics also stated that it will try to substitute production through other factories of the company or by outsourcing. However, Renesas Electronics’ 12-inch production line is only available at the Ibaraki plant. And if you want to replace it with an 8-inch production line, the Asahi Kasei Semiconductor Plant, which had been shut down due to the fire before, has a high utilization rate. I am afraid it will be difficult to fully compensate for the loss of the Renesas Electronics Ibaraki Plant due to the fire. Capacity.

On the whole, after the snowstorm in Texas in February 2021, NXP, which has the largest market share in the global market for microcontrollers, and Infineon, ranked third, have suspended operations in their local plants in Texas, the United States. In this regard, NXP has announced in early March that the Texas plant in the United States has lost approximately one month of production capacity, and Infineon also stated that the plant will not be restored to its original condition until June.

Affected by this situation, automakers including Nissan, GM and Toyota have successively announced plant shutdowns between March 18 and 19. Now, coupled with the fire at the Ibaraki plant of Renesas Electronics, it means that the world's top three automotive semiconductors are all experiencing supply problems, and it is expected that the tight supply of automotive semiconductors will inevitably expand.