[Japan] Earthquake halts production lines due to power outages, equipment damage

Damage to the production line at the Asahi Breweries Fukushima Brewery in Motomiya, Fukushima Prefecture, halted its operations. The plan is to resume operations at the end of this month.

The Kirin Brewery in Sendai suspended operations on Sunday to conduct a safety assessment, after parts of the ceiling and walls were damaged, along with some products in storage. The plan is to resume operations on Wednesday.

Renesas Electronics Corp., a major manufacturer of semiconductors, had to stop production of components to be used in automobiles at its Naka plant in Hitachinaka, Ibaraki Prefecture, to perform a safety assessment. There are no concrete plans for resuming operations.

Mitsui Chemical’s Ichihara Works in Ichihara, Chiba Prefecture, experienced a power failure, halting production equipment. The company believes it will take a few days to complete a safety check before restarting the equipment.

JFE Steel Corp.’s Sendai Works in Miyagi Prefecture has also halted production.

Twelve prefectures in the Tohoku and Kanto regions, including Fukushima, Miyagi, Tochigi, Kanagawa, Shizuoka prefectures, experienced power outages following the earthquake. The outages affected about 950,000 households.

Most power outages occurred as electric companies deliberately cut power after 12 thermal power plants in the Tohoku and Kanto areas were shut off, making less power available. Most power had been restored as of Sunday morning, according to the Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry.