Spot market prices for mainstream MLC NAND flash soared by up to 20% in one day on March 14, while those for DDR3 chips rose about 7%. The prices rallied amid concern that the recent earthquake and tsunami damage in Japan may have significant impact on the memory supply chain.

Average prices for 16Gb and 32Gb MLC chips grew 16.75% and 20.5%, respectively, in one day to close at US$4.67 and US$6.06 on March 14, according to DRAMeXchange. Meanwhile, microSD cards also saw daily increases of up to 26% yesterday.

Sources at memory module makers estimate that prices for NAND flash in finished card form may rise as much as 50% this week.

As for DRAM, branded and effectively tested (eTT) 1Gb DDR3 were quoted at US$1.11 and US$0.97, respectively, on March 14, up 7.2% and 7.6%, according to DRAMeXchange.

There is growing concern that both NAND flash and DRAM production might be impacted by rotating power cuts in parts of Japan and the nation's disrupted transportation infrastructure.