Steel shortage sees Toyota stop Japan production for one week

Toyota said on Monday it would halt production at all car assembly plants in Japan from Feb. 8 to Feb. 13 owing to a steel shortage following an explosion at a steel plant of one of its affiliates. The world’s biggest automaker said on Saturday a blast at an Aichi Steel Corp had curbed production of steel used in auto parts including engines, transmissions and chassis. It gave no specifics on how car production would be affected.

Operations are scheduled to recommence on Feb. 15, and vehicle production on lines outside Japan will not be suspended.

Toyota statement

Late last week, it said it had enough inventory to keep the factories running until Feb. 6. Toyota produced 4.0 million vehicles in Japan in 2015, roughly 46 per cent of which was exported. It produced around 13,600 vehicles a day in December, up 10 percent from a year earlier, due in part to the start of production of the latest Prius petrol hybrid. The stoppage illustrates the risks of Toyota’s “just-in-time” inventory system, under which the company receives parts several times a day according to requirements, avoiding the need for excessive inventories.

Toyota