ASIAN NEWS
Production beginning to restart in Thailand
Thai Honda Manufacturing is reported to have restarted some manufacturing after more than a month of halted production, primarily due to disruption of parts supply as a result of the devastating floods.
production again. Parts shortages as a result of the Thai floods, also impacted Honda production in Indonesia and the United States. Toyota expects to resume production in its three Thai plants from 21st
W November. Japanese production was also
affected by parts supply shortages. Mitsubishi expects to restart production by the end of November at its Laem Chabang plant in Eastern Thailand. Isuzu Motors production facility at Lat Krabang, around 10km from Bangkok’s international airport, was not directly affected by flooding due to massive flood barriers around the industrial area. Production of computer hard drives was hit almost immediately by the flooding, with Western Digital announcing a serious shortfall in output. Thailand accounted for more than 40% of worldwide HDD production in the first half of 2011. Analysts predict that PC production for the first quarter 2012 could be down by as much as 20% globally. Camera plants owned by Canon, Nikon and Sony have all been affected by flooding. Around one third of Thailand’s provinces, some 1.6 million hectares, are believed to have been flooded with estimates of the number of factories affected ranging upwards from ten thousand. The impact on fastener production in Thailand has been
harder to gauge. Fastener + Fixing Magazine attempted to contact a number of companies, most of whom reported limited impact on production facilities but serious impact on office
hile some production of power products and motorcycles has recommenced, though, Honda’s car plant in the city of Ayutthaya, which halted production on 4th
October, is still not able to start
operations in Bangkok city. Several said they were protecting their plants and critical machinery and waiting for the water to come, but depending on the depth of the water hoped to avoid serious business interruption. Others expressed concerns over sea levels expected to peak during the early part of November, which meant companies continued to be vulnerable. ECF Precision Company saw its Ayutthaya plant submerged in two- metre deep flood water. Parent, Crown Screw Corporation took over production as soon as data could be recovered from the inundated factory. There are anecdotal reports that a stainless steel fastener plant was also flooded with a probable impact on production for several months. Thailand’s insurance commission estimates that damage
claims could top 14 billion euros. Once the recovery programme can be started in earnest those local producers of construction related fasteners will inevitably see benefits from the disaster. More ominously, though, are warnings that the low-lying capital is vulnerable to future repetitions of the floods. Aggressive ground water extraction in the past caused the city to sink, which it continues to do, albeit at a slower pace. Rapid urbanisation and industrialisation means that areas requiring flood protection continue to grow and the annual deluge of rain has fewer places to go. Until this year a complex set of water level controls had proven reasonably successful in protecting population and industry. The concern now is that much of Thailand’s budget will go on mitigating the effects of this year’s floods, dramatically reducing the cash available to protect against a future repetition.
San Shing shares trade publicly On 16th September San Shing Fastech shares began trading on the main board of
the Taiwan Stock Exchange converting from the Over the Counter securities market. On the first trading day the company’s share price rose 1.7% to close at NT$47.
S
an Shing reckons to be the world’s largest nut manufacturer, with gross annual production close to 75,000 tonnes – which equates to around 6.6 billion nuts. More than 95% of production goes for export, accounting for one tenth of the global nut market and a third of Taiwanese nut exports. In statements to the exchange San Shing representatives indicated that the Corporation had maintained
efficient operation throughout this year and credited the supply of steel materials from China Steel Corporation and breakthroughs in processing technology as significant contributors to a projected record NT$3.3 net income per share for 2011. Founded in 1965 the company develops and manufactures its own tooling and production machinery, both of which
are also supplied to external companies. It has a vertically integrated production system, starting from wire pickling, annealing and drawing, through cold and hot forging, to tapping, secondary procession, heat and surface treatment, inspection and packing. Accreditation includes TS 16949:2002, ISO 9000 and 9001, ISO 14001:2004, OHSAS 18001:1999 and ISO 18025:2005. (Part of this report contributed by Fastener World Magazine)
30 Fastener + Fixing Magazine • Issue 72 November 2011
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