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
Latin America’s steel industry grapples with declining demand, rising imports
With climbing imports and falling consumption, the Latin American steel industry has had a challenging 2024, according to an Alacero report.
CRU: Trump tariffs could stimulate steel demand
Now that the dust has settled from the US election, as have the immediate reactions in the equity, bond, and commodity markets, this is a prime opportunity to look at how a second Trump presidency might affect the US steel market.
HVAC shipments slip in September but are still trending higher
Following a strong August, total heating and cooling equipment shipments eased in September to a five-month low, according to the latest data from the Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI).
GrafTech Q3 loss widens as electrode demand remains soft
GrafTech International’s third-quarter net loss increased from last year, with the company anticipating continuing weakness in near-term demand for graphite electrodes.
Cliffs forecasts 2025 rebound after Q3’s weakest demand since Covid
The negative impact of high interest rates on consumer behavior, particularly in the automotive and housing sectors, was the primary driver of the demand weakness seen across the third quarter, according to Cleveland-Cliffs executives.