Nikon has issued another statement concerning the damage it sustained from the flood in Thailand.
The full notice is below.
This is to advise you of the latest situations of submersion at Nikon (Thailand) Co., Ltd., a consolidated manufacturing subsidiary of Nikon Corporation in the Rojana Industrial Park in Ayutthaya Province located in Central Thailand.
- Damages
The 1st floor of all buildings at the premises continues to be submerged. Operation of the factory has been suspended since October 6. No human damage is reported. As for the water level, the Rojana Industrial Park, where Nikon (Thailand) Co., Ltd. is located, announces that it has lowered by about 40 centimeters from the highest period at measuring points in the Park. - Estimated impact to our business performance
The impact of the flood on our business performance for the financial period ending March 31, 2012 has been estimated, within the scope of our current findings and understanding, to push down net sales by 65 billion yen and operational income by 25 billion yen. Our estimation of the financial results for the Year Ending March 31, 2012, announced at 15:00 JST today, has reflected these negative factors. - Recovery
We have set up support and recovery system under the Emergency Headquarters for Disaster Control headed by president and will endeavor to restart the operation as early as possible. Every possible measure is now under preparation to resume production by means as purchase of new manufacturing equipment, review of production allocation among Nikon group companies, etc. As for drainage from the industrial park, the Rojana Industrial Park authority explained to us that they expect water pumping-out to start in the beginning of November and complete by the end of November.
We are planning to start production at other Nikon group manufacturing plants and our partner factories in Thailand one after another from December 2011. Production will partially resume from January 2012 at Nikon (Thailand) Co., Ltd., and production of digital SLR and interchangeable lenses will return to the normal level by the end of March 2012.
We deeply apologize you for any inconveniences caused by the disaster such as short supply of our products.
Perhaps Nikon needs to hire a consulting geologist who could determine whether their manufacturing plants are being built or located on a flood plain. One can appreciate floods of the century occurring so that even apparently safe locations are at risk, but I suspect Nikon was looking at inexpensive labor in Thailand and forgot about the weather and flood plains.