Two workers missing after a fire and explosion at a Panasonic plant in Hsinchu County, Taiwan, were confirmed dead on November 5, and five others were injured. The site belongs to Panasonic Industrial Devices Materials Taiwan, and Panasonic said it is investigating the cause.
The Hukou plant makes MEGTRON laminates, ultra-low-loss copper-clad laminates (CCL) used in high-speed circuit boards. According to TrendForce, MEGTRON is about 20% of the global high-end CCL market and the plant roughly 20% of MEGTRON capacity, or about 4% of global high-end supply.
Why it matters: Nvidia and large US cloud providers are raising AI server orders while CCL lead times are already long, so analysts warn of possible supply pressure. No shortfall has been quantified yet. Panasonic had just announced about JPY 67 billion to expand MEGTRON capacity in China and Thailand.