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global supply chain
The Japanese government estimates the damage of the earthquake on March 11 will exceed 300,000 million dollars (about 205 million euros), so that only with that, it will be the most expensive natural disaster in history. But its consequences for the global economy may be even more serious.
From the 80, more and more companies, especially in high technology sectors, which work by making "last minute", invented by Japan, which is to be stored small stocks and buy components as needed, taking advantage of cheaper transportation and a more modern tracking software. Most often these high-tech components are manufactured in Japan: the country produces 89% of global aluminum capacitors, 46% of lithium ion batteries and 87% of video game software. A factory located 60 kilometers west of central Fukushima manufactures 20% of the world's silicon wafer, which is essential for computer memory. Now closed, and high-tech companies like Apple, Hewlett-Packard and Lenovo are prepared to suffer a shortage of stock.
With the factories have not yet recovered from the damage of the earthquake and tsunami, officials have warned that many products from Apple iPad to Boeing's 787 Dreamliner will suffer disruptions and interruptions. The noticeable effects of the earthquake and in the popular Toyota Prius, made entirely in Japan: at dealerships in California, before the earthquake, the car was sold on average $ 300 below the theoretical price and now sells at 1,000 up $. After
interruptions caused by Hurricane Katrina and the eruption of Iceland, many experts are beginning to put into question is general practice making last minute. The irony is that it has reinforced the importance of Japan in the global supply chain, after two lost decades of economic stagnation. But a similar crisis, for example, in the Guangdong region of China, highly industrialized, have had far greater impact. Fishing
Japan's fishing industry, which accounts for nearly half of the 3,000 million dollars annually entering the country for its food exports, has not yet recovered from the double whammy that has been an earthquake that destroyed his fleet and warnings of radiation that have alarmed consumers around the world about its famous seafood. The earthquake and tsunami destroyed about 18,500 fishing boats. In some parts of the country, disappeared almost 90% of the fleet.
Now the sector has to cope with the effects of radiation from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, which, for a few days, poured into the sea. Although Japan's government insists that the fish of the country's coastal waters can be eaten without problems, fans are restless, and many sushi restaurants around the world have stopped importing Japanese fish as a precaution. Several countries including the United States and China, have banned the import of food in the area of \u200b\u200bFukushima, and India has banned the entry of any Japanese food for a period of three months. The famous Tsukiji fish market in Tokyo, the largest in the world usually crowded with tourists, remains a shadow of what it was before. Daily sales have fallen by 60%. Natural Gas
Tepco, the company that operates Japan's Fukushima nuclear power plant is the largest energy company in Asia and fourth in the world in 2009 sold more electricity than it uses in a year all over Spain. Therefore, any interruption in electricity can have repercussions far beyond Japan, especially in the natural gas market, which often serves as a resource to generate electricity when they fail to nuclear energy and other alternative systems. As highlighted by the energy expert Amy Myers Jaffe of the Baker Institute, where Tepco temporarily shut down five nuclear power plants in 2002, natural gas prices rose significantly in markets as far away as Louisiana. And the closure of Japan's other nuclear plant in 2007 increased gas prices around the world for several years.
last month's earthquake caused the closure of a quarter of Japan's nuclear production, and reactors in Fukushima, by themselves, constitute half of TEPCO's nuclear capability. Barclays Capital analysts at first predicted that Japan would absorb an additional 3% of the global supply of natural gas. Natural gas prices liquid had risen in Asia and Europe since the disaster of Fukushima, and, since Japan is cautious about building new plants, it is possible that prices will not back down. "Fukushima will not return to work, and must be replaced by something," says Jaffe. Nuclear energy
Fukushima
The disaster has terminated prematurely with the "nuclear renaissance" originated in Europe, a movement that considers over the stage and pretended postChernóbil expand nuclear energy, to the extent that the International Energy had predicted that nuclear energy would constitute 6% of global energy supply to be more than 11% in 2035.
is now doubtful to maintain this rate of growth. The EU (the Energy Commissioner, Günther Oettinger, said the situation in Fukushima was a "nuclear holocaust") called "tests" for its 143 jet. And Germany, the largest economy in the Union, has suspended plans to extend the life of its nuclear plants.
In other regions of the world, U.S. President, Barack Obama, although he has expressed his support for nuclear energy, has called for a thorough review of the safety of their plants. And China, which has proposed a huge expansion of the sector, said will not approve new power of time to allow review of the safety criteria.
The governments of France and Britain have remained calm amid global panic. British Prime Minister, David Cameron said the plans to keep new plants running by 2025. And the French Minister of Energy, Eric Besson, whose country gets up to 80% of its electricity from nuclear power, recently insisted in his "profound conviction that nuclear energy will remain in Europe and the world and will be a the fundamental energies of the century ". The French nuclear group Areva, the state-owned has made it clear to potential customers around the world that their new advanced EPR reactors are built according to safety standards well above those of Fukushima. Of course, it does not hurt that neither France nor Britain are in areas prone to earthquakes.
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http://www.fp-es.org/las-consecuencias-ocultas-fukushima
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