The massive earthquake in Japan is also expected to affect the raw material supply chain for the IT industry in Taiwan, but the extent of the impact is hard to estimate at this point. In response, many DRAM manufacturers in the Hsinchu Science Park have already stopped quoting spot prices in an effort to minimize potential damages.

The disaster-hit area of Japan happens to be the major supplier of raw materials and equipments to many Taiwanese semiconductor companies.

According to TSMC, the world's leading semiconductor maker, the company is not affected in the short term.

Other companies that have factories in Japan are UMC, AU Optronics Corp and ASE global.

So far, there was no immediate report of damage or casualty.

The AU Optronics Corp is temporarily not operational due to power shortage while ASE global released a statement Monday noon, saying it is picking up the normal operation.

UMC has a statement on its official website, saying that some machines are to be readjusted and all of the staff are safe.

But given the limited supply of raw wafer from Japan, DRAM manufacturers have stopped quoting spot prices.

According to IT giant Powerchip, the DRAM market is very sensitive to the supply and demand balance and it's hard to predict the future pricing changes.

Other manufacturers in Hsinchu Science Park say that they have safety stocks so the effect should be limited.

But they will keep a close eye on monitoring the supply chain of Japan.

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