Tag Archives: chip shortage

Diapers to yogurt, global firms face higher costs amid supply-chain woes

(Reuters) – Results from companies Procter & Gamble Co and Danone SA as well as phone maker Ericsson on Tuesday show higher costs and supply chain disruptions, signaling more margin pressure for global firms and higher prices for shoppers.

Panic-buying at the start of the pandemic led to mass shortages of everything from toilet paper to packaged foods. Global lockdowns and labor shortages crimped supply chain movement and caused lasting log-jams at ports from China to California.

Many companies have leaned on price increases to offset higher prices for materials needed to make and ship essential necessities like diapers and bottled water. Executives and analysts have said price increases will linger into next year.

Procter & Gamble, which noted its first-quarter operating margins were squeezed, now expects a hit of about $2.3 billion in expenses this fiscal year, compared with a prior forecast of about $1.9 billion.

The company is blaming higher raw material costs as well as diesel and energy prices, and said it does not expect those issues to ease up anytime soon.

Danone, which sells Activa yogurt and Evian bottled water, warned of growing inflationary pressures next year after sticking by its 2021 outlook on Tuesday, pledging its operating margins will be protected by productivity gains and price increases.

“Like just about everyone across the sector and beyond, we see inflationary pressures across the board. What started as increased inflation on material costs evolved into widespread constraints impacting our supply chain in many parts of the world,” said Danone’s finance chief Juergen Esser.

Sweden’s Ericsson told investors on Tuesday global supply chain issues will still be a major hurdle.

“Late in Q3 we experienced some impact on sales from disturbances in the supply chain, and such issues will continue to pose a risk,” Chief Executive Officer Börje Ekholm said in a statement.

The company was not able to deliver certain hardware to its customers due to a chip shortage at suppliers, coupled with logistics problems, it said.

Electric vehicle maker Tesla Inc is due to report results on Wednesday. Investors are closely watching the car maker’s margins. Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk has previously said the company is spending heavily to fly car parts around the world to meet demand, while at the same time working to cut costs at its factory in China by sourcing more local parts.

Some investors want to see how those costs add up.

“I think that there is probably a headwind to margins. They’re paying more for components,” said Gene Munster, managing partner at venture capital firm Loup Ventures, an investor in Tesla. “I think that would be a huge positive if they can raise auto gross margin in this environment.”

(Writing by Bernard Orr and Anna Driver; Editing by Nick Zieminski)

GM, Ford cutting more North American production due to chip shortage

By David Shepardson and Ankit Ajmera

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -General Motors Co and Ford Motor Co both said on Thursday they will cut more vehicle production due to a semiconductor chip shortage that has roiled the global automotive industry.

The White House plans a summit on the chip shortage issue next Monday that is expected to include GM Chief Executive Mary Barra and Ford Chief Executive Jim Farley and top technology firm executives.

A U.S. auto industry group this week urged the government to help and warned that a global semiconductor shortage could result in 1.28 million fewer vehicles built this year and disrupt production for another six months.

President Joe Biden wants at least $50 billion to help boost U.S. semiconductor production, but that will not address short-term needs. “This is something that there is a great deal of focus at the highest level across government,” White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said.

The largest U.S. automaker said it will cut production for two weeks at its Spring Hill assembly plant that makes popular SUVs starting on Monday, and cut a week of Chevrolet Blazer production at its Ramos plant in Mexico and its Lansing Delta Township factory in Michigan.

GM’s Lansing Grand River Assembly will extend its downtime through the week of April 26, while its CAMI Assembly (Canada) and Fairfax Assembly plants will extend production shutdowns through the week of May 10.

Ford, the second-largest U.S automaker, said it will cancel production next week at its Chicago Assembly Plant, its Flat Rock Assembly Plant and part of its Kansas City Assembly Plant. It will also operate its Ohio Assembly Plant on a reduced schedule.

Ford said it will operate more plants this summer during traditional shutdown weeks to make up for lost production.

GM said the latest cuts have been factored into its forecast that the shortage could reduce this year’s profit by up to $2 billion.

GM said it has not taken downtime or reduced shifts at any of its more profitable full-size truck or full-size SUV plants due to the shortage.

(Reporting by David Shepardson in Washington and Ankit Ajmera in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel and Sriraj Kalluvila)

GM hit by chip shortage, to cut production at four plants

By Ben Klayman

DETROIT (Reuters) – General Motors Co became the latest automaker hit by the global shortage of semiconductor chips as the U.S. automaker said on Wednesday it will take down production next week at four assembly plants.

GM said it will cut production entirely during the week of Feb. 8 at plants in Fairfax, Kansas; Ingersoll, Ontario; and San Luis Potosi, Mexico. It will also run its Bupyeong 2 plant in South Korea at half capacity that week.

GM did not disclose how much volume it would lose or which supplier was affected by the chip shortage, but said the focus has been on keeping production running at plants building the highest-profit vehicles – full-size pickup trucks and SUVs as well as the Chevrolet Corvette sports car. GM said it intends to make up as much lost production as possible.

AutoForecast Solutions, which tracks production, estimated GM’s combined lost volume would total almost 10,000 vehicles next week.

“Despite our mitigation efforts, the semiconductor shortage will impact GM production in 2021,” GM spokesman David Barnas told Reuters in a statement.

“Semiconductor supply for the global auto industry remains very fluid,” he added. “Our supply chain organization is working closely with our supply base to find solutions for our suppliers’ semiconductor requirements and to mitigate impacts on GM.”

Affected GM vehicles include the Chevrolet Malibu sedan, Cadillac XT4 SUV, Chevy Equinox and Trax, and GMC Terrain SUVs and the Buick Encore small crossover vehicle.

The chip shortage has led several automakers, including Volkswagen AG, Ford Motor Co, Subaru Corp, Toyota Motor Corp, Nissan Motor Co and Stellantis NV, to cut vehicle production.

Mazda Motor Corp is considering cutting its global output by a total of 34,000 vehicles in February and March due to the shortage, sources told Reuters on Wednesday. Nissan said on Tuesday it cut three days of production on the truck line at its Canton, Mississippi, plant.

The chip shortage is expected to cause production in the global auto sector to be 672,000 vehicles lower than anticipated in the first quarter, IHS Markit said on Wednesday. The forecasting firm expects the shortage to last into the third quarter.

AutoForecast Solutions announced lost production globally so far due to the shortage has totaled 564,000 vehicles and estimated the total impact this year could be 964,000 vehicles.

Taiwan, home to the world’s largest contract chip maker, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd (TSMC) and other major tech firms, is at the center of efforts to resolve the shortage.

Taiwanese chipmakers have promised to increase production and the government has urged them to address the problem.

Taiwan economic officials will hold a virtual meeting with the United States at the end of this week to discuss supply chains, with semiconductor firms present.

On Tuesday, 15 U.S. senators, including some from key automotive states like Michigan, Ohio, Tennessee, Illinois, Indiana and South Carolina, urged the White House to work with Congress to address the chip shortage.

(Reporting by Ben Klayman in Detroit; Editing by Matthew Lewis)