A surge of supply chain disruptions
From lockdowns to floods, the start of 2022 is already experiencing the effects of several disruptions at manufacturing sites and factories around the world.
Malaysia Floods
Every year from October to March, Malaysia experiences its monsoon season; however, abnormally heavy rainfall began this past December and has now impacted nearly 125,500 people.
Among the worst-hit areas were Port Klang, the second-largest harbor in Southeast Asia, and Shah Alam, an adjacent township home to several global semiconductor factories. Due to the extreme situation, local workers struggled to leave or return to their residences and workplaces. One chipmaking equipment supplier even had to halt product assembly operations, resulting in a multimillion-dollar loss.
On January 2nd, additional severe floods hit seven states in Malaysia requiring thousands of people to evacuate. According to the National Disaster Management Agency, the areas of Johor, Kelantan, Malacca, Negeri Sembilan, Pahang, Sabah, and Terengganu were all affected by the most recent floods. While many of the evacuees have been able to return home, there remained threats of continuous heavy rains and high tides.
Xi’an Lockdowns
In late December, Xi’an, China enacted a city-wide lockdown due to a sharp uptick in COVID-19 infections. Beijing has taken a strict approach to prevent flare-ups from spreading. Thus, it is requiring its 13 million residents to stay put unless they receive a negative test result and clearance from community-level authorities or employers. Factories in the city must continue to meet virus prevention and disinfection requirements or they are at risk of being shut down.
Berlin Factory Fire
On Monday, January 3, a factory fire broke out in Berlin, Germany. The equipment supplier to computer chip manufacturers has been operating at maximum capacity to meet the heightened demand from the global semiconductor shortage. No one was injured and the full impact is still being assessed.
Components for lithography systems, machines that develop computer chip circuitry, are manufactured in the factory affected by the fire. Even though the fire may have impacted some components used in deep ultraviolet (DUV) lithography systems, there doesn’t appear to be any major consequences. However, the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography machines involved in wafer production were affected and the company is evaluating how to minimize any impacts as well as finalizing the recovery plan for the production area involved.
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