Japanese quake continues to haunt Asian firms
Japanese quake continues to haunt Asian firms
SINGAPORE (AFP): Twenty days after a powerful earthquake
struck western Japan, repercussions are still being felt by
Southeast Asian manufacturers who say they are having trouble
getting Japanese parts.
The regional glitch in production, which has especially hit
Japanese joint venture automobile plants, could be resolved soon
as shipments of supplies from the devastated port of Kobe are
already being rerouted through other Japanese ports, officials
said.
Nevertheless, Malaysia's state-owned car firm Proton and a
Philippine company that assembles Mitsubishi vehicles have had to
scale down production.
And Mitsubishi in Thailand says production costs could soar
because of the delay in receiving parts from its home base.
In Indonesia, Astra International (AI), which assembles
Japanese automobiles, is negotiating with local customs to cut
red tape for speedier clearance of imported auto parts.
The Malaysian-based Matsushita Television Co. (M) Sdn. Bhd.,
the TV export base in Asia for Japanese electronics giant
Matsushita, has reportedly postponed marketing of a new model
because metal molds are tied up in the warehouse in Kobe, reports
in Tokyo say.
Industry sources said other Asian manufacturers who felt
little immediate effect from the earthquake, which killed more
than 5,100 and caused billions of dollars in damage, might
experience supply problems if Japan gave priority to domestic
delivery.
"It is too costly to air freight the parts. And delays in
shipments will only affect production further," said Mohamed
Nadzmi Mohamed Salleh, managing director of Proton.
He said overtime hours have been slashed due to the production
cutback. The company's margins could also suffer.
Proton, a local venture with Japanese automaker Mitsubishi, is
Malaysia's main car supplier, producing 10,000 units a month.
Analysts said there would be a longer waiting time for buyers of
Proton cars.
Astra
Indonesia's Astra International, assembling a variety of
Japanese cars, said it expected delays in shipments because of
heavy congestion in Nagoya, which together with Yokohama and
Pusan are helping to ease the enormous bottleneck in Kobe.
To avoid delays, AI said it was negotiating with the
Indonesian customs office to speed up customs clearance for auto
parts.
Assemblers of Toyota and Nissan cars in the Philippines said
they were experiencing slight delays in getting Japanese parts
because the customs pre-inspection agency office in Kobe was
damaged by the earthquake. That has forced assemblers to get
their pre-inspection certificates from the agency's Manila
office, which is slower to issue the certificates.
Sources in the Philippine company that assembles Mitsubishi
vehicles said delays of one to two months were expected.
M. Ikenobo, a senior official at the Japanese embassy in
Singapore, said Southeast Asian manufacturers have to bite the
bullet as Tokyo worked to restore normalcy.
"We are pouring immense funds to restore supplies of
components and utilities caused by disruption to road, railway
and shipping links," he said, adding that long term prospects of
Japanese companies in the region was unlikely to suffer from the
earthquake.