Japan earthquake to impact energy sector

The massive 8.9 magnitude earthquake and tsunami struck the northeast coast of Japan, the strongest quake in Japan since records began, causing widespread destruction. Here is the impact on manufacturers, energy firms and other companies with facilities in northeastern Japan, as per Reuters: Sony Corp has suspended operations at six production facilities in the affected area. One factory was flooded, while the other five did not suffer major damage. Nissan Motor Co has halted production at all 4 of its car assembly factories in Japan, including those in severely hit Tochigi and Fukushima prefectures. Small fires broke out at two of the factories. Toyota Motor Co has halted production at two factories with combined annual capacity of 420,000 small cars built mainly for overseas markets. Honda Motor Co’s four domestic plants and a research and development center will remain shuttered on Monday. Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd has halted eight of its 10 factories, including all five car and car parts-related plants for its Subaru-brand vehicles in Gunma prefecture, north of Tokyo. It also suspended operations at its aircraft and power products factories in Tochigi. Other companies that have halted operations of their plants in the region as workers were evacuated following tsunami warnings or due to power outages: Asahi Kasei Corp , GlaxoSmithKline , JSR , Nestle , Nippon Paper Group , Sapporo Breweries Ltd and Morinaga Milk Industry. Cosmo Oil said a fire had broken out from near an LPG tank at its Chiba refinery and was not yet extinguished. JX Holdings said a fire at its Sendai refinery had originated from a land oil product shipping facility nearby, not an LPG tank as feared earlier. JX Holdings is working to shut its 404,000 tpa Kawasaki naphtha cracker near Tokyo. Maruzen said it had shut two naphtha crackers at its Chiba plant with capacities of 480,000 tpa and 690,000 tpa of ethylene, respectively. Kyokuto Petroleum said it had shut its 175,000 barrels per day (bpd) Chiba refinery. Tonengeneral has shut the main units at its 335,000 bpd Kawasaki refinery near Tokyo. Mitsubishi Chemical said it had halted two naphtha crackers at its Kashima plant after a power outage. AOC Holdings said its 140,000-bpd Sodegaura refinery was still operating but it had cut runs of two fluid catalytic cracking units. Cosmo Oil Co said it has now halted its refinery in Chiba, east of Tokyo, after the quake, but its Yokkaichi refinery in western Japan is continuing operations.