TSMC of Taiwan, the world's largest foundry (contract semiconductor manufacturing) company, restored the production capacity of its Kumamoto Plant 1 in Japan, which had halted operations due to a magnitude 7.1 earthquake, to the level before the quake. It took six days after the quake.
According to Kyodo News, Nikkei, and other Japanese media on the 4th, JASM, TSMC's Japan subsidiary, finished equipment inspections and adjustments at Plant 1 in Kikuyo, Kumamoto Prefecture, the previous day and returned to normal production.
When a strong earthquake struck Kumamoto Prefecture on the 28th of last month, TSMC evacuated employees and stopped plant operations. In Kikuyo, where the plant is located, shaking equivalent to 5-upper on the Japan Meteorological Agency scale was observed. While it was confirmed there were no issues with building safety, it took time to inspect and readjust production equipment.
TSMC began resuming production in stages from the day of the earthquake. Kumamoto Plant 2, which is under construction nearby, had no building damage, but some work was temporarily suspended in preparation for aftershocks. Construction at Plant 2 has also resumed.
To support recovery from the Kumamoto earthquake damage, TSMC decided to donate 250 million yen (about 2.28 billion won). A separate fundraising campaign with employee participation is also underway.
Other semiconductor corporations clustered in the Kumamoto area are also resuming production. Tokyo Electron, a semiconductor equipment company, fully resumed operations at its Koshi and Ozu business sites starting on the 3rd. The company said that immediately after the earthquake, no major damage was found to the buildings and production facilities at the two business sites.
Sony Semiconductor Manufacturing began restarting the Kumamoto Technology Center, which produces image sensors, in stages from the 4th. It plans to normalize production to pre-quake levels by mid-month. Renesas Electronics also plans to restart the Kawashiri plant, which produces automotive microcontrollers (MCUs), sequentially from the 5th.
The current recovery pace is faster than during the 2016 Kumamoto earthquake. At that time, Sony's Kumamoto plant resumed production in stages from May after the April quake, and shipments did not return to pre-quake levels until late September. Renesas's Kawashiri plant also restored its previous production capacity on May 22, about a month after the quake. Analysts say the shorter recovery period is due to Japan's manufacturing sector improving in-plant seismic performance and supplementing business continuity plans (BCP) after the 2016 quake.