Concentration of supply to lucrative SUVs, etc.
Missouri plant’stop until the 12th of next month
Expected to take several months to normalize supply
This year’s sales of the car industry are likely to decrease by $60.6 billion
viewer
While automakers are hit hard by the global shortage of semiconductors for vehicles, this time General Motors (GM) has decided to temporarily suspend production of mid-sized pickup trucks. Following the cold wave in Texas, where major semiconductor factories are located, the recent drought in Taiwan is expected to lead to a shortage of semiconductors for the time being.
According to the US economy broadcaster CNBC on the 24th (local time), GM is scheduled to shut down its Missouri plant from the 29th to the 12th of next month. GM also adjusted the shutdown period for the second half of its Missouri plant from May 24 to July 19, two weeks ahead of schedule. This is to put semiconductors for vehicles with poor supply into the production of highly profitable full-size pickup trucks and sports utility vehicles (SUVs). The Missouri plant makes pickup trucks’GMC Canyon’ and’Chevrolet Colorado’.
It’s not just this. GM plans to increase the shutdown period at its Michigan plant by two weeks to mid-next month, and will not run its plant in Kansas and Ingersoll, Ontario, Canada, which stopped last month due to a shortage of semiconductors, until mid-next month. It is known that the Bupyeong plant in Korea is also affected by the shortage of semiconductors.
Earlier, major companies such as Ford, Toyota, Volkswagen, and Honda are also repeatedly suspending production and reducing production due to difficulties in securing automotive semiconductors. According to consulting firm Alix Partners, the global automotive industry is expected to experience a decrease in sales of $60.6 billion this year due to a shortage of semiconductors.
viewer
The problem is that for the time being, such supply problems will be difficult to solve. Samsung Electronics’ Austin plant, which has stopped operating due to the worst cold wave, cut off water and electricity supply, is expected to go into full operation next month, but it will take two months to complete the process of drawing semiconductor circuits and one month to the post process of commercializing semiconductor chips. It takes as. Considering this, the timing of delivery of semiconductors at the Austin plant is expected to be in July.
In this situation, the Taiwanese government, which is facing the worst drought in decades, plans to reduce the water supply of Taichung Industrial Park by 15% from the 6th of next month, where TSMC, a global foundry company, is located.
Semiconductors use a large amount of highly purified water in the manufacturing process. In 2019, TSMC used 156,000 tons per day. For this reason, it is analyzed that if the drought persists, semiconductor production will inevitably be hit.
/New York = Correspondent Kim Young-pil [email protected]
< 저작권자 ⓒ 서울경제, 무단 전재 및 재배포 금지 >