Honda again halts some production

Not just in time * Honda relies on "just-in-time" deliveries that aren't arriving because of a labor dispute at ports on the US' West Coast. * About 9,000 of Honda's manufacturing employees in Ohio are affected by the shutdowns. * The company sold 1.21 million autos in the US last year, and expects sales this year to increase about 2 percent. * The disruptions arose from delayed imports of minor parts such as water-hose clips.

Honda Motor Co, Japan's second-biggest automaker, said it's again suspending production at plants in Ohio and Canada because of delays in receiving parts arriving from West Coast ports.

The company canceled shifts scheduled for Friday and today at Ohio plants in Marysville and East Liberty that build Accord and Civic cars, and at a Marysville motorcycle plant, said Ed Miller, a company spokesman. Honda's Anna, Ohio, engine plant canceled Friday shifts, though it will reopen today.

In Alliston, Ontario, a plant that makes Civics, Odyssey minivans and Acura MDX and Pilot sport-utility vehicles will be closed on Monday, Miller said.

US shipping carriers and union dockworkers this month agreed to an 80-day cooling-off period to end a 10-day lockout that closed 29 West Coast ports and cost the economy an estimated US$1 billion a day. While ships carrying auto parts, produce, electronics and textiles are now being unloaded, Honda and manufacturers that rely on "just-in-time" deliveries aren't yet receiving components when they're needed.

"Things aren't necessarily arriving at the right time, which makes it hard to maintain continuous production flow," Miller said.

paid holidays

The suspensions, which are being treated as paid holidays for workers, provide time to build up parts inventories, he said.

About 9,000 of Honda's manufacturing employees in Ohio are affected by the shutdowns.

Earlier this month, the Tokyo-based company briefly halted work at the Marysville, East Liberty and Alliston plants and its Odyssey factory in Lincoln, Alabama, due to a parts' shortage.

Honda, which ranks fifth in US auto sales, makes 80 percent of the cars and trucks it sells in North America at local plants that get 95 percent of their parts from local suppliers. The disruptions arose from delayed imports of minor parts such as water-hose clips, bolts and screws specially designed for Honda products, Miller said.

The Marysville, East Liberty and Alliston plants have combined annual capacity to make 1.04 million cars and light trucks, or 85 percent of the 1.22 million vehicles Honda expects to build in the US, Canada and Mexico this year. The company sold 1.21 million autos in the US last year, and expects sales this year to increase about 2 percent.

Honda's Marysville motorcycle plant produces 150,000 bikes a year, including the US$19,000 Gold Wing touring model. In Anna, it builds more than 1 million four and six-cylinder auto engines annually.

The company's American depositary receipts, which each represent half of an ordinary share, fell US$0.42, or 2 percent, to US$20.13 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading on Friday.

The stock has fallen 1.2 percent year to date.