Toyota: Japan production to stop for week due to steel shortage

[TOKYO] Toyota Motor Corp said on Monday it would halt production at all of its car assembly plants in Japan from Feb 8 to Feb 13 due to a steel shortage following an explosion at a steel plant operated by one of its affiliates.

The world's biggest automaker said on Saturday a blast at an Aichi Steel Corp plant on Jan. 8 had curbed production of steel parts, but gave no specifics on how car production would be affected. It said it had enough inventory to keep the factories running until Feb 6.

In a statement on Monday, Toyota said it plans to resume output on Feb 15 and keep the impact on production to a minimum by procuring supply from Aichi Steel's substitute lines as well as from other steel makers. Overseas production will not be affected, it said.

REUTERS