TOKYO (Reuters) – Toyota, Nissan, Honda and other Japanese automakers worked hard on Monday to assess the production impact of a fire at a Renesas Electronics automotive chip plant that could exacerbate the global semiconductor shortages.
“We are collecting information and trying to see if it will affect us or not,” said a Honda spokesman. Other automakers, including Toyota and Nissan, said they are also assessing the situation.
The effect on automakers could spread beyond Japan, to other automotive companies in Europe and the United States, because Renesas has about a 30% global share of microcontroller unit chips used in cars.
Renesas said it will take at least a month to restart production on a 300 mm wafer line at its Naka plant in northeastern Japan after an electrical failure caused machinery to fire on Friday and blew smoke into the sensitive clean room.
Two-thirds of the production on the affected line is automotive chips. The company also has a 200 mm wafer line at the Naka plant, which was not affected.
Concerns about the impact of the fire on production caused auto stocks to fall, with the big three, Toyota, Honda and Nissan, closing more than 3.3%. Renesas shares fell as much as 5.5% and ended 4.9% lower. The Topix benchmark index fell by almost 1%.
“It will probably take more than a month to return to normal supply. Given that, even Toyota will face very unstable production in April and May, ”said Seiji Sugiura, senior analyst at Tokai Tokyo Research Institute. “I think Honda, Nissan and other manufacturers are also going to face a difficult situation.”
Semiconductors such as those manufactured by Renesas are used extensively in cars, including to monitor engine performance, manage steering or automatic windows and in sensors used in parking and entertainment systems.
Nissan and Honda had previously been forced to cut production plans because of chip shortages resulting from growing demand from electronics manufacturers and an unexpected rebound in car sales after a fall during the early months of the coronavirus pandemic.
Toyota, which has ensured that parts suppliers have sufficient inventories of chips, has done better so far.
“It could take three months or even half a year for a complete recovery,” said Akira Minamikawa, an analyst at technology research firm Omdia. “This happened when chip stocks are low, so the impact will be significant,” he added.
GOVT PROMISES HELP
Renesas said its customers, who are mostly auto parts manufacturers rather than automakers, will begin to see chip shipments drop in about a month. The company declined to say which machine caught fire because of the electrical failure or which company made it.
The Japanese government has promised aid to the auto industry.
“We will firmly try to help the Naka plant achieve rapid restoration, helping it to quickly purchase alternative manufacturing equipment,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato said at a regular press conference on Monday.
The latest incident at the Naka facility came after an earthquake last month halted production for three days and forced Renesas to further deplete chip stocks to fulfill orders.
The plant was closed for three months in 2011 after the deadly earthquake that devastated Japan’s northeastern coast.
Reporting by Maki Shiraki, Eimi Yamamitsu and Noriyuki Hirata; Written by Tim Kelly; Muralikumar Anantharaman edition