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Japan’s government estimated the damage from this month’s record earthquake and tsunami at as much as 25 trillion yen ($309 billion), . . .

. . . The destruction will push down gross domestic product by as much as 2.75 trillion yen for the year starting April 1, today’s report showed. The figure, about 0.5 percent of the 530 trillion yen economy, reflects a decline in production from supply disruptions and damage to corporate facilities without taking into account the effects of possible power outages.

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This is not priced in. Had another conversation today with a Chicago hi-tech manufacturer- they'll be idled next week (optimistically) for six weeks to two months. Kanban hurt them. And they're not the kind of inputs you just 'go have made in China'.

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In October 2010, the South Texas Project announced that the Tokyo Electric Power Company, or TEPCO, had entered into an agreement with Nuclear Innovation North America (a joint venture between the reactor manufacturer, Toshiba, and plant partner NRG Energy) which was the largest of the two stakeholders in the proposed reactors, to purchase an initial 9.2375% stake in the expansion for $125 Million, and $30 Million for an option to purchase an additional stake in the new units for $125 Million more (resulting in approximately 18% ownership by TEPCO, or 500MW of generation capacity).

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SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — The cost of reinsurance in Japan could surge 50% or more after losses from the March 11 earthquake drain capital from this part of the industry, Barclays Capital insurance analyst Jay Gelb said Friday.

The global property-casualty insurance industry has likely suffered about $50 billion of insured losses from a spate of big natural disasters since the third quarter of last year, Gelb estimated in a note to investors.

Current Tsy Holdings:
China, Mainland      1154.7  
Japan                 885.9

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Japanese automakers will consider running their factories in rotation to help cut the industry's electricity consumption amid power shortages created by a quake-crippled nuclear plant, sources familiar with the matter said Saturday.

Rotating production has been proposed as the carmakers want to avoid power being rationed to the industry by utility companies, as scheduled blackouts would significantly lower efficiency at their factories, the sources said.

Rather than experiencing scheduled power outages, the manufacturers want to secure stable electricity supplies for their factories in exchange for cutting the industry's overall power consumption by rotating production, they said.

The automakers are expected to hold a consultative meeting shortly at the office of the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association to agree a rotational schedule, they said.

Other industrial sectors could follow suit as they are also facing electricity rationing in some parts of the country following a series of explosions and fires at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant operated by Tokyo Electric Power Co.

Within the auto industry, metal-casting facilities are especially affected by scheduled blackouts, as they need considerable time to boot up after an outage halts their operations, they said. A blackout lasting three hours would lead to the suspension of operations at such a facility of nine hours.

In addition, the production of semiconductor chips for use in automobiles is viewed as effectively impossible without a stable power supply.