Dutch chipmaker Nexperia urges Chinese units to help restore supply chain

By Kanjyik Ghosh

(Reuters) – Dutch chipmaker Nexperia, whose supply chain was fragmented when the Dutch government took over the company in September, called on its Chinese units to help restore normal production in an open letter on Thursday.

Nexperia’s Dutch unit said in an open letter that it had made repeated and numerous attempts to re-establish dialogue but had received no response from the Chinese units.

Nexperia produces billions of simple but ubiquitous chips for cars and other electronic devices, and shortages threaten automotive supply chains, leading to production slowdowns and halts.

It produces most of its wafers in Hamburg, Germany, and then ships them to Dongguan, China, to be packaged and shipped to customers.

The Dutch government took control of Nexperia, which is headquartered in the Netherlands but owned by Chinese Wingtech, on September 30, saying the move was necessary to prevent the company’s former CEO from moving its European operations to China from its current base in the Netherlands.

In response, Beijing halted exports of Nexperia’s finished products on October 4; this measure has since been partially relaxed.

Separately, Nexperia’s Chinese arm announced that it was no longer subject to European management’s control after the takeover, and on October 26 the company’s European side stopped shipping wafers to it, citing non-payment.

On Wednesday, China pushed for a company-led decision following a meeting between Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao and EU Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic.

“Nexperia BV has made many attempts, both formal and informal, to re-establish dialogue with Nexperia’s entities in China through direct outreach through calls, emails and proposed meetings,” Nexperia’s open letter said. The statement was included.

“Unfortunately, Nexperia did not receive a meaningful response,” he added.

(Reporting by Kanjyik Ghosh in Barcelona; ‌Editing by Leslie Adler and David Gregorio)