The aftermath of the US cold wave and the Japanese earthquake… Semiconductor shutdown, oil supply shock
[앵커]
The record cold wave in the United States that occurred in 30 years and the recent strong earthquake in Japan hit oil refineries and oil prices continue to rise.
It is also affecting the production of semiconductors and other manufacturing industries.
This is reporter Jisoo Kim.
[기자]
A cold wave in Texas in the US and a strong earthquake in Fukushima in Japan have damaged major production facilities such as oil refineries and semiconductor factories.
Samsung Electronics dispatched its head office technicians to a semiconductor plant in Austin, Texas, where operation was stopped due to a power cut due to a cold wave.
The Austin plant is Samsung Electronics’ only semiconductor plant in the United States, the first time since its establishment in 1996.
In addition, other semiconductor factories such as NXP in the Netherlands and Infineon in Germany in Austin have also been shut down.
NXP and Infineon are the No. 1 and No. 2 companies in the global automotive semiconductor field, and there are concerns that the disruption in the production of finished vehicles may expand.
The LG Electronics TV plant and Kia Motors plant in northern Mexico, which are supplied with natural gas from the United States, have been partially shut down.
Due to the cold wave, refineries such as Exxon Mobil, Texas, have a total of 4 million barrels, which is 21% of their daily production in the United States, and Eneos’s 415,000 barrels refining facilities have been shut down due to the earthquake in Fukushima, Japan.
As a result, the refining margin, which had remained in the $1 range, surged to the $2 level, and crude oil from West Texas exceeded $60, breaking the highest level in 13 months.
“When it hits the floor, refining margins are returning well. In particular, when the supply of refineries decreases, it is a factor that improves the performance of refineries. On the contrary, from the point of view of consumers, prices rise, which is a factor in inflation…”
There are also expectations that 1Q results will improve at the four domestic refineries that recorded a trillion-unit deficit last year due to low oil prices and low refining margins.
This is Yonhap News TV, Kim Ji-soo.
Yonhap News TV article inquiries and reports: katok/line jebo23
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