Full Recovery at Fire-Hit Renesas Plant to Take 3-4 Months

Tokyo, March 30 (Jiji Press)--Renesas Electronics Corp. <6723> President Hidetoshi Shibata said Tuesday that it will take three to four months for the firm's fire-hit semiconductor production line in eastern Japan to recover the output level before the blaze. Full resumption of production at the line depends on how fast alternative devices to damaged chipmaking equipment can be procured, Shibata told an online press conference. He did not deny the possibility of full restoration of the line at the Naka plant in the city of Hitachinaka, Ibaraki Prefecture, being delayed while reiterating that the line will resume production within a month. Renesas has finished checking some 90 pct of about 390 units of semiconductor-manufacturing equipment on the first floor of the production building, where the fire occurred on March 19, according to Shibata. On top of 11 burned units, 12 other units were found unusable due to soot and chlorine gas produced by the fire, he said. Because of the tight supply of semiconductors globally, chipmaking equipment has also been in short supply. Renesas plans to make some of its chips at other semiconductor makers in order to minimize the impact on its product supply from the fire. Meanwhile, Japanese industry minister Hiroshi Kajiyama told a press conference on Tuesday that the government has sought support from Taiwanese makers for alternative production of automotive semiconductors. "We'll work with Renesas to achieve an early production recovery," he added. END