Only 1 Lacquer producer left, in a garage in Japan?

I discussed this issue with a close friend of mine a mastering engineer who cuts lacquers on a Neumann VMS 80. Saff Mastering. This is truly a big deal.  Lucky for him, he buys his lacquers through the small production in Japan.  These japanese lacquers are more expensive but higher quality than the California operation.  Saff thinks this fire will stress the business especially for the several studios that rely too heavily on cutting vinyl. Probably will put lots of places out of work.

@mijostyn raises a good point.  No one makes new lathes and servicing them can be a huge ordeal.  Think of how much better things could get if the lath tech was pushed forward and didn't end with 80's tech!

Maybe one silver lining is that we'll have fewer garbage RSD issues because of this. Or maybe no more RSD altogether.

This fire could have a silver lining. Since the demand for LP’s grows every year, someone will surely fill the void, and perhaps do an ever better job, especially if more than one new facility emerges.

On a side note, I was watching an interview with Peter Lederman from Soundsmith about the strain gauge system (which I use for playback) and the extremely low moving mass. So low in fact that one of the labels (it might have been Reference Recordings- can’t remember) says they can play back their lacquers as many times as they want with no wear or degradation! Typically lacquers only  last for a few plays.

this relates:
https://www.gottagrooverecords.com/2020/02/statement-on-apollo-transco-fire/