'Taiwan Issues Red Alert for Severe Drought After 6 Years... Growing Concerns Over Semiconductor Supply'

[Image source= AFP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Byung-hee] Concerns are growing that the semiconductor supply shortage will worsen as Taiwan's drought intensifies.

According to Bloomberg on the 24th, the Taiwanese government issued a red alert for water supply for the first time in six years. Wang Meihua, Taiwan's Deputy Minister of Economic Affairs, announced that due to the red alert, the amount of water supplied to companies in the Taichung Science and Technology Park will be reduced by 15% starting from the 6th of next month.

It is expected to immediately affect semiconductor production plants of TSMC and Micron located in Taichung. In the semiconductor manufacturing process, ultrapure water, which is water purified to remove impurities, is used. Ultrapure water is consumed in washing wafers and semiconductors and in wafer polishing processes. TSMC reportedly used 156,000 tons of ultrapure water per day in 2019.

Therefore, Taiwan's severe drought could disrupt semiconductor production. Taiwan has been suffering from an extreme drought since last year. Taiwanese semiconductor companies account for more than half of the global foundry semiconductor market.

Deputy Minister Wang stated that sufficient water needed by IT companies is secured until the end of May when the rainy season begins.

TSMC said it will increase the use of water spraying trucks to secure enough water and that the current red alert measure will not affect factory operations for now. On the other hand, Micron has not commented on the red alert.

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