TSMC: Nanke Factory resumed work longer than expected after the earthquake

TSMC recently updated its forecast for the impact of the strong earthquake in southern Taiwan on February 6, indicating that the overall recovery time is longer than previous estimates, and some wafer shipments will be extended to the second quarter. .
The company said in a press release for the first quarter 2016 outlook, "We still expect wafer shipments in the first quarter to be delayed." Wafer shipments will be delayed for wafer 14A (Fab 14A) 10 to 50 days, and the shipment time of 100,000 12-inch wafers will be extended from the first quarter to the second quarter; and wafer shipments from the Fab 6 will be delayed by 5 to 20 days. And 20,000 8-inch wafer shipments were postponed to the second quarter. According to the company, the impact of the earthquake on Wafer 14B (Fab 14B) was minimal.

The impact of the earthquake on TSMC was limited to the Tainan Science Park, including TSMC's Fab 14 and Fab 6 fabs in Tainan. TSMC's previous assessment released on the day of the earthquake indicated that the first quarter capacity affected by the earthquake was less than 1%, and it is expected that most of the capacity will be restored within 2-3 days.

TSMC said, "We will do our best to work closely with our customers to make up for all affected wafers as quickly as possible." TSMC's other fabs in Hsinchu and Taichung Science Park are not affected.

TSMC also updated its sales outlook for the first quarter. Although the Nantai earthquake has lengthened its shipping time, TSMC’s revenue is expected to increase. TSMC said that the company's revenue during this period will fall between NT$2,010 and RMB203 billion, which is higher than the expected RMB1,980-2,010 million at the beginning of this year. TSMC said that the impact of the second strong earthquake on wafer shipments is expected to be offset by the growth of the company's business volume and the strong appreciation of the US dollar.

UMC, after the strong earthquake on February 6 this year, also said that it is expected that the production capacity in the Southern Science Park will resume in a few days. However, UMC has not yet updated the latest developments in the impact of the earthquake on capacity.

The epicenter of the 6.4-magnitude earthquake was located in Kaohsiung Mino, about 48 km (30 miles) southeast of Tainan City. Taiwan currently accounts for about one-third of global semiconductor production. On September 21, 1999, a large earthquake of more than 7.3 caused a massive power outage across Taiwan and a reduction in wafer capacity for nearly a week.