Honda completes Japanese steel airlifts to North America plants

July 19, 2002 Torrance, California -- Bloomberg news reported that Honda Motor Co., Japan's second-biggest automaker, completed airlifting steel to plants in North America from its home country and arranged contracts with local suppliers to avoid future shortages.

Honda began flying in carbon sheet steel for plants in the U.S., Canada and Mexico this month after U.S.-imposed tariffs on imported steel raised prices and demand for domestic steel. Honda planned to bring in as much as 2,000 tons by air, a more costly alternative than boat shipments.

"The bulk of that amount has been delivered," spokesman Ron Lietzke said. "There might be a few more (airlifts) into August, but our expectation is that they'll be tapering off."

Shortages for Honda and other companies were caused partly by U.S.-based manufacturers trying to buy more domestic steel not subject to tariffs, analysts said. Toyota Motor Corp. said the situation may raise its steel costs by $100 million a year, while auto-parts makers such as Delphi Corp. and Dana Corp. have also said they had steel supply difficulties.

Honda's North American plants rely on local suppliers for more than 90 percent of steel used to make Odyssey minivans, Civic and Accord cars and Acura MDX sport-utility vehicles. That figure may rise as the company secured contracts with new unspecified North American suppliers, Lietzke said.