On May 20 Taiwan will start phase 2 of wafer rationing according to a report by AsiaOne quoting the Taiwanese minister for Economic Affairs. The first phase was introduced on April.
Rationing will apply to the areas of Taoyuan, Hsinchu, Taichung, and Changhua, where among others fabs from UMC and TSMC are located.
The reason behind he rationing is low water levels. High purity water is needed for semiconductor manufacturing.
To overcome the shortages UMC will try to locate outside suppliers, but this is getting increasingly difficult, as a lot of raw wafers come from Japan, where production has ground to a halt after the earthquake and tsunami that resulted in rationing of power.
TSMC will increase the recycling of water to approximately 85% according to the report. Time to prepare for the supply and demand dance. S|A
Mads Ølholm
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