Recently Nihon Keizai Shimbun Electronic Edition reported the following:
台湾に半導体増産要請 日米独など、不足の早期解消求め
北米
2021年1月25日 0:30 [有料会員限定]
【台北=中村裕】自動車を中心に世界で半導体が足りないなか、独米日など各国政府が台湾当局に半導体増産などの協力を要請していることが、24日わかった。米国による対中制裁や自動車市場の急回復による半導体需給の逼迫ぶりを裏づけた。半導体不足による自動車の減産が長引けば、世界経済の波乱要因にもなりかねない。
台湾当局の関係者は24日、「自動車用の半導体が世界で不足しており、昨年末から各国の外交ルートを通じて（台湾からの半導体供給を増やすように）要請を受けている」と語った。自動車の生産が盛んなドイツ、米国、日本などから協力要請を受けているという。製造業の部材不足を理由に、各国が特定の国や地域に対し、増産などの協力を求めるのは異例だ。
台湾で製造業を所管する経済部（経済省）はすでに半導体の生産に強い企業に増産などを求めたという。半導体受託生産で世界最大手の台湾積体電路製造（TSMC）や、同世界4位の聯華電子（UMC）などに、車用半導体の増産対応を急ぐよう促した。
TSMCの広報責任者は24日、日本経済新聞に「（世界で今最も不足する）車用の半導体の需要に応えることが、当社の最優先事項である。我々は引き続き、自動車関連企業と緊密に協力し、需要に応えられるように支援していく」とコメントした。
半導体不足は昨秋、あらわになった。新型コロナウイルスの影響でテレワークが世界で広がり、パソコンに使う電源管理用の半導体がまず足りなくなった。さらに世界最大の中国の自動車市場の回復を受け、車でも半導体が不足し始めた。
米国が中国最大の半導体受託生産企業、中芯国際集成電路製造（SMIC）に制裁を科したことが問題に拍車をかけた。SMICが生産する半導体は技術水準は高くないものの、車や家電に数多く搭載する。こうした半導体を生産する企業は世界でも少ないため、最先端から汎用品まで幅広く半導体を製造する台湾勢に世界中から多くの生産依頼が舞いこむ。
半導体の生産量をすぐに増やすのは難しい。車用の半導体は利幅が薄いうえ、需給が緩むとすぐに値段が下がる恐れもあり、増産のために急いで投資をすれば無駄になりかねない。半導体各社が車メーカーに対し、半導体の1～2割の値上げを要請する動きもあるが、半導体不足はすぐに解消されない。
影響は世界の自動車大手に広がる。独フォルクスワーゲン（VW）は中国や北米、欧州での生産調整を発表。米フォード・モーターも北米の一部工場の停止を表明した。三菱UFJモルガン・スタンレー証券は減産規模は1～6月を中心に世界で150万台前後とみる。日本の経済産業省幹部は「自動車など逼迫している業界からの増産要請は強い。半導体不足は少なくとも数カ月は続きそうだ」と語った。
国内でもホンダは1月、小型車「フィット」など約4000台を減産する見通し。日産自動車は国内で主力の小型車「ノート」の減産に入った。トヨタ自動車も米国などで生産調整を余儀なくされ、スバルは国内唯一の生産拠点である群馬製作所（群馬県太田市）の稼働が止まる日も出てきた。
車向け半導体では20年10月に宮崎県にある旭化成のグループ会社の工場で火災が発生し、一部製品の供給が滞っている。火災の影響が長引けば車生産をさらに下押ししかねない。
Translation
[Taipei = Yutaka Nakamura] With the shortage of semiconductors in the world centered on automobiles, it was revealed on the 24th that governments such as Germany, the United States and Japan were requesting the Taiwanese authorities to cooperate in increasing semiconductor production. This confirmed the tight supply and demand of semiconductors due to the US sanctions against China and the rapid recovery of the automobile market. A prolonged reduction in automobile production due to a shortage of semiconductors could be a cause of turmoil in the global economy.
A Taiwanese official said on the 24th that "there is a shortage of semiconductors for automobiles in the world, and since the end of last year, we have received requests (to increase the supply of semiconductors from Taiwan) through diplomatic channels from individual countries." It was said that request for cooperation had been received from Germany, the United States, Japan, etc., where automobile production was thriving. It was unusual for an individual country to ask a specific country or region for cooperation such as increasing production because of a shortage of materials in the manufacturing industry.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs (Jingji Bu), which had jurisdictions over the manufacturing industry in Taiwan, had already asked companies that were strong in semiconductor production to increase production. It urged Taiwan TSMC as the world's largest semiconductor contract manufacturer, and also the United Microelectronics (UMC) as the world's fourth-largest semiconductor manufacturer, to respond urgently by increasing production of semiconductors for automobiles.
A spokeswoman for TSMC told the Nihon Keizai Shimbun on the 24th that "to meet the demand for semiconductors for automobiles (which is currently in extreme shortage globally) is our top priority. We will continue to work closely with automobile-related companies. We will give support to meet the needs. "
The shortage of semiconductors became apparent last fall. Due to the influence of the new coronavirus, telework had spread all over the world, and the semiconductors for power management used in personal computers had become scarce. Furthermore, with the recovery of the world's largest Chinese automobile market, semiconductors in automobiles began to run short.
This issue was spurred by the US imposed sanctions on China's largest semiconductor contract manufacturing company, the Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC). Although the technological level of semiconductors produced by SMIC was not high, many its semiconductors could be installed in cars and home appliances. Since there were few companies in the world that produce such semiconductors, many production requests come from all over the world to Taiwanese who manufacture a wide range of semiconductors from state-of-the art to general-purpose products.
It was difficult to increase semiconductor production immediately. The profit margin of semiconductors for automobiles was thin, and the price could drop as soon as the supply and demand slowed down. If you made a quick investment to increase production, it might be wasted. There were moves by semiconductor companies to request car manufacturers for raising the semiconductor price by 10 to 20% , yet the shortage of semiconductors could not be resolved immediately.
The impact spread to the world's leading automobile companies. Volkswagen (VW) of Germany announced production adjustments in China, North America and Europe. Ford Motor Co. also announced the suspension of some plants in North America. Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities estimated that the scale of production cuts could be around 1.5 million units worldwide from January to June. An executive of the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said "There are strong demands from strained industries such as automobiles to increase production. The semiconductor shortage is likely to continue at least for a few months".
In Japan, Honda was expected to reduce production of about 4,000 compact cars such as the "Fit" in January. Nissan Motor had started to reduce production of its mainstay compact car "Note" in Japan. Toyota Motor had also been forced to adjust production in the United States and other countries, and Subaru had come to a day for its Gunma Plant (Ota City, Gunma Prefecture), which was the only production base in Japan, to stop operating.
About the production of semiconductors for automobiles, in October 2020, a fire broke out at a factory of Asahi Kasei's group company in Miyazaki Prefecture, and the supply of some products became stagnant. If the impact of the fire was prolonged, it could further push down car production.
It is
beyond my expectation that Taiwan has such an important role to play in the
supply chain for the production of semiconductors for use in automobiles.
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