Southeast Asian COVID-19 outbreak further complicate MLCC shortages

Southeast Asian-based priority electronic component plants continue to experience a squeeze as the Delta variant-fueled COVID-19 outbreak continues to ravage the region, prompting industry experts to warn of further shortages ahead.

Top MLCC supplier Murata Mfg.'s inductor plant in Dong Nai, Vietnam, is slated to reopen for operations next Monday amid the worse COVID-19 outbreak in the country. Another Japanese firm Taiyo Yuden's inductor plant in the Philippines also reported decreasing production, further impacting component supply. Domestic inductor suppliers in Taiwan, Chilisin Electronics and TAI-TECH Advanced Electronics, are seeing lead times over three months. The shortages have prompted market watchers to lay out expectations that prices would not decrease in the short term.

The Vietnamese government has stepped up restriction measures on the 23rd, allowing factory workers to work, sleep, and eat on factory grounds in Ho Chi Minh City, Dong Nai, and Binh Duong. Vietnam is currently reporting tens of thousand cases daily. The new regulations prompted Murata Mfg to delay reopening from August 17 to 30th.

Murata's other factory based in Da Nang had already resumed operations on July 29, however restrictions have made it difficult for work resumption rates to surpass 30%.

At present, Taiwan's inductor-related companies Chilinsin and TAI-TECH are reporting delivery periods over three months. With steady demand, Chilinsin's revenue in July reported NTD$1.532 billion, an increase of 4.5% per month; TAI-TECH in July revenue of NTD$556 million, a monthly increase of 1.39%, making it the fifth time this year for them to rewrite a single-month high.