Fire at Hynix Factory – USB Flash Prices Rise on News
Hynix is the 3rd largest manufacturer of DRAM and Nand flash in the world. The flash products it manufacturers are used in a wide range of electrical goods including USB memory sticks.
At around 15:40 today (Bejing time) its factory in Wuxi, China erupted into a ball of flames (see images below). At 4pm the fire was still burning brightly with the smoke clearly visible from miles away.
The fire could not have come at a worse time because we’re just days away from Chinese National Holiday(s) on the 19th Sept and 1st to 6th October. These holidays typically create supply issues in the market and drive up prices – the fire at the Hynix factory is going to compound this and lead to turmoil in the markets.
Flash is traded as a commodity (just like coffee, gold and silver) and the spot markets on which it trades have already shot up on the back of the news. Expectations are that prices will now continue to rise over the following days.
For anyone about to place an order for promotional USB memory sticks this is bad news because these prices rises will have an immediate knock on effect around the world
