Japanese firms rush to resume production as earthquake disrupts local economy
By Kantaro Komiya
TOKYO (Reuters) — Japanese manufacturers rushed to resume production four days after a magnitude 7.6 earthquake killed at least 94 and disrupted infrastructures in the country's west coast, as businesses were returning from gloomy New Year holidays.
About 80% of 200 companies with plants in the quake-hit areas, including makers of machines, semiconductors and textiles, have resumed production or would resume soon following the quake, Industry Minister Ken Saito said on Friday.
But the government cannot picture a clear timeline for the recovery of the region's power supply, Saito added. Roughly 24,000 buildings in Ishikawa, the hardest-hit prefecture where the quake's epicentre is located, are still out of electricity, according to Hokuriku Electric Power.
Electronic parts supplier Murata Manufacturing on Friday said it was examining the damage at five plants in Ishikawa and neighbouring Toyama, while eight other plants in the region have resumed production or would do so by Tuesday.
Carmaker Toyota Motor (NYSE:TM) was looking into how its production might be affected after its suppliers Aisin and Sumitomo Electric Industries suffered some damage from the earthquake, president Koji Sato said.
Display makers Japan Display and EIZO, as well as chipmakers Kokusai Electric, Sanken Electric and Toshiba (OTC:TOSYY) Electronic Devices & Storage, have said they were checking and repairing damaged factory facilities.
The economic loss from the earthquake could amount to less than 0.01% of Japan's gross domestic product, Nomura Securities' Chief Economist Kyohei Morita estimated on Thursday. The impact on wider supply chains would be milder than that from the 2016 Kumamoto earthquakes which hit auto and
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