The recent earthquake in Sichuan, China was an unparalleled disaster and caused immeasurable devastation and consequences for all involved, with the industrial gas community just a minor segment of those affected.
Industrial gas companies have been affected however, and quite substantially, by having to implement a partial stoppage of the supply of gas or shutting down operations all together.
The Messer Group temporarily halted operations at its developments in the province, while Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (SMIC), which fabricates semiconductors on a commission basis, shut down operation of its plant in Chungdu. Due to this, on-site supply of nitrogen and the supply of specialty gas by Taiyo Nissan was still at a standstill as of 19th May.
Semiconductor Fab #2 at Chungdu ceased operations when the earthquake occurred on 12th May, though since then, the assembly plant has started operations again after undergoing inspection. The preprocessing plant, however, which requires a precision production method, remained shut down.
... to continue reading you must be subscribed
