Toyota Temporarily Suspends Production In Thailand Due To Flooding

[george]

Toyota temporarily suspends production in Thailand

BANGKOK, Oct 12 - Toyota, Japan's biggest automaker, announced on Wednesday that production at its three plants in Thailand has temporarily halted until Oct 15 due to severe flooding which has disrupted parts supply.

Toyota Motor (Thailand) senior vice president Vudhigorn Suriyachantananont said the current flooding disrupted delivery of necessary auto parts, so the company opted to suspend production at its three plants temporarily.

The company, however, is evaluating progress on delivery of supplies before making a further announcement, Mr Vudhigorn said.

Honda Motor (Thailand) earlier said it had closed its production lines from Tuesday until the end of this week after two industrial estates in the historic city of Ayutthaya, north of Bangkok, were inundated. Hundreds of new Honda cars were submerged.

Industry Minister Wannarat Channukul said on Wednesday that 930 industrial plants in 28 provinces have been inundated with more than 200,000 workers affected. Cost of damage is estimated at Bt26 billion.

More than 280 people have lost their lives in Thailand's worst floods in decades. (MCOT online news)

-- TNA 2011-10-12

[george]

More production suspension announced, including at Western Digital

Western Digital Corp, one of the storage industry's pioneers and longtime leaders, announced today that production of hard drives in its facilities in Ayutthaya will be constrained in the current quarter due to the severe flooding in Thailand.

The flooding is causing problems with the region’s infrastructure, including transportation and utilities, and has resulted in the inundation of some supplier facilities and employee homes. The company is gratified to report that its approximately 37,000 Thailandbased employees are deemed safe at this time, it said in a statement.

The company is working with its suppliers to maximise throughput and availability of parts in order to best meet the needs of its customers.

In the quarter ending July 1, Western Digital shipped approximately 54 million hard drives from its facilities in Thailand and Malaysia, with approximately 60 percent coming from its Thailand sites. The company’s Thailand operations source much of its supply of components from local suppliers.

Production has been suspended on a temporary basis to protect its employees and its facilities, which are still operational, and equipment against water ingress.

The company indicated that conditions associated with the continued flooding are evolving quickly and the extent of the impact on its operations in Thailand cannot yet be fully determined. The company will provide further updates on the situation, including on its investment community conference call on Wednesday, Oct 19.

Floods are affecting the facilities of several foreign companies in Thailand, as Ayutthaya is the home to automotive and electronics parts manufacturing. Other companies affected include two Ajinomoto units, Sony's digitalcamera plant, a Mitsubishi Motors Corp auto plant, Hitachi's refrigeratorcompressor factory, Toshiba's two plants making microchips and hard disks, Nippon Meat Packers' two units, Pioneer's two autoelectronics facilities, and Hoya's lens plant.

Others are KCE Technology and Stars Microelectronics (Thailand), Stars Microelectronics (Thailand) and ON Semiconductor.

-- The Nation 2011-10-12

[nickynomates]

They are not realistic.

Months before much can start again many sites are under 3 meters of water.

Why is this not being more widely reported its a national disaster.

People are dying.

[ginjag]

Before it was the Tsunami--could not order a new Honda Brio, wait list--tried again today --Udon Thani--sorry order for next year.

Tried for the other car that compares-Nissan March...Udon Thani,,,as Honda--the car here is not for sale only for show--Ha......asked when I could get a March she said Maybe a month or so. You have to order, Does anyone know of a company that has stocks of 1.2 engine cars, available to buy ( seemingly Honda and Nissan are the only 2 companies in this market)...............I do not want the Jazz-Suzuki-Vios...as they are 1.6 cc...any help from your areas--stocks of March--or Brio ????

[plumeria]

They are not winning the war to keep Bangkok unaffected.

Inner area in west is going under this evening.

Here are a few shots and video:

[John1012]

They are not realistic.

Months before much can start again many sites are under 3 meters of water.

Why is this not being more widely reported its a national disaster.

People are dying.

Not reported as a national disaster? Would mean loss of face for all those responsible for the planning and implementation of water control measures and infrastructure over the last 20 odd years. Bunch of incompetent t*ss*rs. It could be that this year's excess of water will occur again , next year and so on (as the world's climate seems to changing). What is going to happen to Thailand's food production? How are all those subsistence farmers and agricultural support workers going to survive? How are all these international manufacturing companies going to react to the partial collapse of supply chain due to incompetent long term planning? (sorry long term planning not in Thai political dictionary, must be dreaming again of a real world approach, TIT). Unless the government creates and is seen to IMPLEMENTING proper flood water control systems and stable road/rail routes, then it is probable that future manufacturing expansion will move to other ASEAN countries with a more stable transport infrastructure and existing manufacturing facilities will be gradually phased out. The update of existing flood control and road/rail infrastructure will cost a fortune, Where will the money come from? China? Am I dreaming, or are the Thai authorities creating Thailand , the hub of delusions.

[webfact]

FLOOD

More producers forced to suspend work

The Nation, Bloomberg

The country is counting the cost as more manufacturing companies suspend their operations because of the severe flooding.

Many Japanese companies have temporarily halted production. They include two Ajinomoto units, Sony's digital-camera plant, a Mitsubishi Motors Corp auto plant, Hitachi's refrigerator-compressor factory, Toshiba's two plants making microchips and hard disks, Nippon Meat Packers' two units, Pioneer's two auto-electronics facilities, and Hoya's lens plant.

Others are one of the world's largest manufacturers of hard drives for personal computers, Western Digital, and KCE Technology and Stars Microelectronics (Thailand).

Thai Reinsurance, the only reinsurer in the Kingdom, conceded yesterday that it would be affected by the flooding that has killed at least 281 people and destroyed or damaged a large amount of assets across the country. The company expects to shoulder net damage claims of about Bt260 million. This will drive up this year's loss ratio by 5 percentage points to 48 per cent. The historical loss ratio averages 45 per cent.

Because of the rising water level around the Bang Pa-in Industrial Estate in Ayutthaya, where it is located, Stars Microelectronics (Thailand) decided to halt its operations from yesterday's night shift and plans to resume production from next Monday. This is to ensure employees' safety and protect its property as far as is possible.

KCE Technology, a subsidiary of KCE Electronics, a maker of printed-circuit boards, shut down its plant in Ayutthaya's Hi-Tech Industrial Estate after a request from the estate operator to suspend production for safety reasons, according to the company's filing to the Stock Exchange of Thailand.

Ajinomoto, a Japanese maker of seasonings, halted production at two units because of the flooding, according to Bloomberg.

Production at its drinks unit has been suspended since October 3 after the plant was flooded, while output at a frozen-food unit has been halted since last Friday after workers were ordered to evacuate, according to a company statement to the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

Western Digital said yesterday that production in Thailand had been halted to protect employees, and output would therefore be constrained in the current quarter.

Sony suspended operations at its Ayutthaya plant for digital cameras on Tuesday, spokesman Hirofumi Otsuru said. It plans to wait at least until tomorrow before reopening.

ON Semiconductor, a US-based maker of chips that help computers manage power, expects some loss of revenue in the current quarter and into next year after suspending production at its Sanyo Semiconductor unit, it said in a statement on Tuesday.

The subsidiary accounts for 10 per cent of the group's production, ON Semiconductor said.

Mitsubishi Motors plans to suspend Thai production until Saturday, company spokesman Shigeru Jibiki said.

While the auto-maker's facilities have not been damaged, the delivery of parts from some suppliers has been delayed, he said. The company expects production to be cut by 1,500 units.

Production at Hitachi's plant that makes compressors for refrigerators has been halted since Friday, spokesman Yuichi Izumisawa said.

Hitachi Metals also suspended operations at two plants making components used in hard disks and autos, he said.

Toshiba has suspended production since Tuesday at its two factories that make chips and hard disks, spokeswoman Kaori Hiraki said.

Nippon Meat Packers has suspended operations at two units since Saturday because of the flooding.

Pioneer, a maker of car-navigation systems, has idled two plants, and Hoya has suspended operations at a lens plant.

-- The Nation 2011-10-13

[webfact]

Thai floods close hundreds of factories

2011-10-13 05:46:09 GMT+7 (ICT)

BANGKOK (BNO NEWS) -- More than 900 factories have been shut in parts of Thailand because of the monsoon-season floods which have claimed nearly 300 lives in recent months, local media reported on Wednesday.

Industry Minister Wannarat Channukul said hundreds of industrial plants have been inundated by the floods, affecting more than 200,000 workers. He said other manufacturers in Bang Wa (Hi-Tech) and Bang Pa in industrial estates have now halted operations to prevent damage if the flood water inundates the industrial zones, the Bangkok Post reported.

Federation of Thai Industries' automobile club vice chairman Suparat Sirisuwannangkul said the floods would certainly affect the automobile industry on a wide scale. "If the flooding continues, the target of 1.9 million units car output would not be achieved and the target will have to be lowered to less than 1.8 million," he said, as quoted by the newspaper.



Several auto-part plants in Ayutthaya's industrial estates in central Thailand have been inundated. Honda Motor in Thailand said that it is now assessing the damage caused by the flash floods while Nissan Motor admitted that it has closed production lines until the end of this week.

Mazda Sales said its car assembly plants in Rayong have temporary stopped operations, while Toyota has also halted its production lines of three plants in Rayong since Monday.

Thailand has been hit by unusually heavy monsoon rains in the past months, killing scores in flood-related incidents and affecting thousands of villages. In April and May, Thailand was also hit by flooding in the country's southern region, causing billions in damages to their fishing industry, industrial sector, tourism, and business and trade, among other areas.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2011-10-13

[TerryLH]

"...I do not want the Jazz-Suzuki-Vios...as they are 1.6 cc..."

Sounds like you're looking at the first time buyer scheme.

You can get a Jazz or Vios that is 1.5 and qualifies for the promotion.

I don't know about the Suzuki.

[rotary]

What about Ford Fiesta & Mazda 2(Same car made in same plant) and better looking in my opinion than the Honda

Before it was the Tsunami--could not order a new Honda Brio, wait list--tried again today --Udon Thani--sorry order for next year.

Tried for the other car that compares-Nissan March...Udon Thani,,,as Honda--the car here is not for sale only for show--Ha......asked when I could get a March she said Maybe a month or so. You have to order, Does anyone know of a company that has stocks of 1.2 engine cars, available to buy ( seemingly Honda and Nissan are the only 2 companies in this market)...............I do not want the Jazz-Suzuki-Vios...as they are 1.6 cc...any help from your areas--stocks of March--or Brio ????

[ginjag]

"...I do not want the Jazz-Suzuki-Vios...as they are 1.6 cc..."

Sounds like you're looking at the first time buyer scheme.

You can get a Jazz or Vios that is 1.5 and qualifies for the promotion.

I don't know about the Suzuki.

No I'm not looking for that, I have a vios sport-and want a 1.2 engined car as stated, thats all.

I am wanting to find a dealer who has Brio--or March in stock as Udons waiting list is too long-they said it is the floods problem--but thanks for the promotion info,-The Suzuki is standard 1.6-and all auto and 650,000 Bht....import prob-tax--but nice car though.

[ginjag]

What about Ford Fiesta & Mazda 2(Same car made in same plant) and better looking in my opinion than the Honda

Before it was the Tsunami--could not order a new Honda Brio, wait list--tried again today --Udon Thani--sorry order for next year.

Tried for the other car that compares-Nissan March...Udon Thani,,,as Honda--the car here is not for sale only for show--Ha......asked when I could get a March she said Maybe a month or so. You have to order, Does anyone know of a company that has stocks of 1.2 engine cars, available to buy ( seemingly Honda and Nissan are the only 2 companies in this market)...............I do not want the Jazz-Suzuki-Vios...as they are 1.6 cc...any help from your areas--stocks of March--or Brio ????

Rotary, Thanks for your help and opinion, good to share. Brio and March are eco 1.2 engine and made here, and sell for a nice price of 450,000. The Mazda2 and ford I agree are nice but like the Suzuki are pricier at 600,000.

So my sort of sos, was a bit off topic, but because of flooding /related, was info please if anyone in other areas have seen stocks of Brio-or March, want to buy asap.