Power Outage at Samsung Electronics Hwaseong Plant, Recovery Possible as Early as Today

Estimated Damage of Billions of Won, Could Also Be an Opportunity to Deplete Inventory

Samsung Electronics Hwaseong Campus view. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Changhwan Lee] The Samsung Electronics Hwaseong plant, where part of the production line was halted due to a power outage, is expected to be restored as early as the 2nd. The damage is estimated to be at least several billion won. There is also an analysis that this power outage incident could be an opportunity for Samsung Electronics to reduce its semiconductor inventory.

According to related industries, the semiconductor line at Samsung Electronics Hwaseong plant, which stopped due to a power outage on the afternoon of December 31 last year, is expected to be restored as early as today. The Samsung Electronics Hwaseong plant is a key production base for memory semiconductors, and some DRAM and NAND flash production lines were suspended due to this power outage.

This power outage occurred when a transmission cable at the Hwaseong substation exploded. As a result, power was cut off for 1 to 2 minutes in the Dongtan area of Hwaseong at that time. Samsung Electronics is currently known to be investigating the specific cause of the accident. A Samsung Electronics official said, "We are currently carrying out factory restoration work and investigating the cause of the accident simultaneously," adding, "The production line is expected to be restored within today or tomorrow."

Industry insiders estimate the damage from this power outage to be at least several billion won, possibly exceeding 10 billion won. In March 2018, Samsung Electronics also experienced a power outage lasting about 28 minutes at its semiconductor plant in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, resulting in damage estimated at around 50 billion won.

Some analysts suggest that this power outage incident could actually help Samsung Electronics reduce its inventory. Sunwoo Kim, a researcher at Meritz Securities, analyzed, "Among the three major semiconductor companies, Samsung Electronics has the largest inventory, and this incident is expected to act as a factor suppressing the increase in its inventory."

If semiconductor inventory decreases, it could help semiconductor prices rebound. After the power outage accident at Japan's Kioxia (formerly Toshiba Memory) in June last year, NAND flash inventory decreased, leading to a price rebound.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.