Taiwan continues to deal with the effects of its worst drought in 56 years amid great demands for semiconductor production. A combination of weather patterns such as decreased rainfall and not a single typhoon making landfall in 2021 has led to the current dilemma. On March 24, things reached a new extreme, as the government issued a red alert due to numerous reservoirs around the island running dangerously low. This is the first time in six years that such a warning has been issued; water supplies for two science parks in Taichung have been reduced by 15 percent. Both TSMC and Micron have manufacturing plants there.
Economics minister Wang Mei-Hua said that the supply reduction would not affect either company for now. TSMC has been bringing water to its manufacturing plants via tankers and plans to increase deliveries to avoid production interruptions. Its headquarters are located further north in Hsinchu, so it is not subject to the new restrictions. Micron has not commented on the effects of the new measures, which are set to go into effect on April 6.
This is happening at a time when the tech industry has increased its demands for wafer production, leading to fabrication plants running at near max capacity. Despite increased production, sectors ranging from automotive production to GPU manufacturing have been experiencing delays. The forthcoming monsoons in May will hopefully alleviate the situation, as TSMC is set to face new challenges from Intel and Samsung, which are creating new foundries.