Impact of Gumi AGC Explosion Accident... 2Q Display Panel Prices to Rise

[Asia Economy Reporter Suyeon Woo] An analysis has emerged that global display panel prices are expected to rise in the second quarter of this year due to the explosion accident at AGC Fine Techno Korea in Gumi, Gyeongbuk last month.

On the 6th, market research firm TrendForce forecasted that the explosion accident at AGC Fine Techno Korea last month could affect the prices of glass substrates for display panels, potentially leading to an increase in global display panel prices.

Since the second half of last year, panel prices have risen as glass substrate suppliers such as Corning in the U.S. and NEG in Japan limited their supply. This year, the AGC explosion accident has added to these factors, and it is analyzed that the impact will extend through the second quarter. However, TrendForce predicted that the production disruption in the global display glass substrate market due to this accident would be less than 1%.

Display glass substrates produced by AGC Fine Techno Korea / Photo by AGC Fine Techno Korea website

TrendForce expects that if the impact of this accident is limited to the production of 10.5-generation glass substrates supplied to 65-inch and 75-inch displays, the effect will be confined to a single production line of a single supplier. However, if the scope of the impact expands to 8.5-generation glass substrates, it could also affect Taiwanese and Chinese manufacturers producing displays of 55 inches or smaller, they added.

Initially, TrendForce had forecasted that TV display panel prices would rise until the first quarter of this year but would slightly decline from the end of the second quarter. However, due to this accident, they revised their forecast to expect panel prices to maintain their peak through the second quarter and continue an upward trend until the end of the third quarter.

On the afternoon of the 29th of last month, an explosion accident occurred at AGC Fine Techno Korea located in the Gumi National Industrial Complex, Gyeongbuk. Eight workers who were on duty at the time were injured and transported to the hospital, but all were reported to be out of life-threatening danger. AGC Fine Techno Korea had been melting 65 tons of glass daily to produce glass substrates for LCDs.

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