A gas explosion occurred at a new metal casing factory of Ri-Teng Computer Accessory (Shanghai), eastern China on December 17, but will not substantially impact the operation of the factory, according to Taiwan-based Pegatron Technology, which holds a 100% stake in Ri-Teng through indirect investment.

Ri-Teng acquired the factory with a floor space of 141,432 square meters at NT$1.822 billion (US$60.4 million) earlier in December 2011, Pegatron indicated. The explosion happened at a building under construction for the plant's expansion, and had no influence on the factory's overall production capacity, Pegatron said.

In view of fast growing demand for metal casings used in slim notebooks, Pegatron is setting up in-house capacity of metal casings with a budget of US$300-400 million for procurement of CNC machines in 2012, according to industry sources. Pegatron expects its metal casing capacity to be among the global top-three, with the other two being Taiwan-based Catcher Technology and Foxconn Technology, the sources said.