Steel Markets
Chrysler Plans Two-Week Outage at Illinois Plant on Chip Shortage
Written by David Schollaert
December 2, 2021
Stellantis – the Dutch parent company of Chrysler – will idle production for two weeks at one of its U.S. plants because of the ongoing global microchip shortage, a company spokeswoman said.
The Auburn Hills, Mich.-based automaker’s assembly plant in Belvidere, Ill., will be down starting the week of Dec. 6 and will remain down through the week of Dec. 13, she said.
“Stellantis continues to work closely with our suppliers to mitigate the manufacturing impacts caused by the various supply chain issues facing our industry,” the spokeswoman said in an email to Steel Market Update on Thursday, Dec. 2.
The is the second extended outage at Belvidere this quarter. The assembly plant, which makes the Jeep Cherokee SUV, was down for most of October because of the chip shortage.
There was little in the way of additional downtime to report at other automakers as of Thursday afternoon.
Case in point: General Motors – the largest U.S. automaker and Chrysler’s crosstown rival – and Dearborn, Mich.-based Ford Motor Co. had no updates this week besides what has been announced previously, company representatives said.
Japanese automakers Nissan Motor Co. and Toyota Motor Corp. both said there were no updates for the remainder of the year, outside of their standard holiday breaks.
And Stuttgart, Germany-based Daimler AG said that its Mercedes-Benz production facilities in the United States were running as usual.
By David Schollaert, David@SteelMarketUpdate.com
David Schollaert
Read more from David SchollaertLatest in Steel Markets
US steel exports rise to 12-month high in August
The amount of steel exiting the country in August reached the highest monthly rate recorded since August 2023.
Worldsteel lowers short-term forecast for global steel demand
The World Steel Association (worldsteel) has made significant downward revisions to its Short Range Outlook for global steel demand.
US steel imports tick up in August, fall again in September
August steel imports totaled 2.38 million short tons (st) according to final data released this week by the US Commerce Departmen
Dodge Momentum drops on moderating data center growth
Slowing growth in data center planning caused the Dodge Momentum Index (DMI) to pull back in September. The decline followed five months of growth after the index hit a two-year low in March.
US construction spending drops again in August
Construction spending in the US declined for a third month in August but showed an increase year over year (y/y). The US Census Bureau estimated construction spending to be $2.131 trillion in August on a seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR). While this was 0.1% below July’s revised spending rate, it was 4.1% higher than spending […]