TOKYO: Bridgestone Corp. said Monday it will suspend operations at 11 plants in Japan in late April and early May in addition to scheduled halts during the spring holiday period.

The major tyre maker was initially scheduled to stop production of tyres and related products at the plants during the four-day holiday from May 3.

But Bridgestone now plans to halt operations for two to six more days before or after the original suspension period, in response to temporary closures of vehicle assembly plants amid the spreading novel coronavirus outbreak, company officials said.

Specifically, eight tyre plants in six prefectures including Fukuoka will become idle for a total of six additional days, while a plant making tyre reinforcement materials in Saga Prefecture will shut for four extra days and two rubber goods factories each in Gifu and Kumamoto prefectures for two days.

Faced with plummeting global vehicle sales due to the coronavirus pandemic, major Japanese automakers including Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. are curbing output by closing part of their assembly lines, resulting in production halts at materials and parts suppliers. Besides tire manufacturers, steelmakers such as Nippon Steel Nippon Steel Corp. have decided to idle some of their blast furnaces.

JIJI Press