Off the wire
• FLASH: BOMB HITS MILITARY VEHICLE IN N. AFGHAN TOWN -- OFFICIAL  • Urgent: Myanmar's newly-elected union parliament starts first session in Nay Pyi Taw  • Urgent: Five killed, 2 missing, over 4,000 displaced as landslides, floods hit West Sumatra, Indonesia  • Woman pulled out alive 52 hours after Taiwan quake  • Tokyo stocks retreat in morning on U.S. shares' slump, losses trimmed as yen drops  • Roundup: Japan's 2015 current account surplus increases on oil price slum, surplus grows for 18th straight month in Dec.  • Aust'n woman kidnapped by al-Qaeda militants in Africa released  • Taiwan quake death toll rises to 35  • Xinhua world news summary at 0030 GMT, Feb.8  • "Potential disaster" at Aust'n airport prompts calls for review of landing procedures  
You are here: 　 Home

Toyota suspends production at all domestic factories due to steel shortage in wake of plant explosion

Xinhua, February 8, 2016 Adjust font size:

Toyota Motor Corp. said Monday that its had halted production at all of its domestic factories owing to a shortage of steel in the wake of an explosion last month at a steel plant in central Japan, where the company is headquartered.

Local media reported that the Aichi Prefecture-based automaker will suspend production lines at all 16 of its factories here staring on Monday, with the suspension likely to continue through Saturday.

The world's top automaker said it expects operations to resume as normal on Feb. 15.

According to local reports, the production halt will affect up to 80,000 vehicles, based on the automaker's daily production levels of 13,000 vehicles.

On Jan. 8, an explosion at Toyota's affiliate Aichi Steel Corp. in the Tokai region of the prefecture knocked out a furnace essential to the No.2 Bar Mill Shop of the Chita Plant's steel production. The explosion has impacted the automaker's ability to source steel for its production lines, it said.

Aichi Steel Corp. has said production at its plant would not resume until March 29.

The production halt is expected to deal a significant blow to Toyota who last week announced record profits for the April-December period last year.

The maker of the popular Prius hybrid and Corolla sedans said its profits had leapt 9.2 percent on year to 1.89 trillion yen (16.12 billion U.S. dollars) as brisk sales in its North American market helped widen its margins.

It also said its operating profit jumped 9 percent to 2.31 trillion yen on sales of 21.43 trillion yen, climbing 6.5 percent compared to the same period a year earlier and marking a new record for the manufacturer.

Based on the figures, Toyota upwardly revised its net profit projection for the business year ending March 31, by 4.4 percent compared to last year, from initial estimates of 2.25 trillion yen, to 2.27 trillion yen.

However, the automaker's figures for 2015 and its upward revision had not factored in the impact of the steel shortage on its earnings for fiscal 2015. Endit