Sunday, October 30, 2011

Honda Troubled By Thai Flood

Honda Motor shares fell on Monday as the company announced its Thailand plant may be closed for six months.Honda needs to replace equipment that was damaged by the recent flooding in the outskirts of Bangkok.The plant produces the Civic and Accord models.
The center of Bangkok is generally dry,protected by a wall of hundreds of thousands of sandbags that guide the waters to the Thai delta.The wall has prompted bitter criticism by residents of the northern reaches of the city,whose homes have been flooded,while those living just inside the wall are dry.Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra pointed out that they had no choice but to protect the city center.Thailand's international image would suffer if the capital city were allowed to be flooded.She called for patience for 2-3 more days.These are very critical days in the disaster,the Prime Minister added.
About 400 people have died as a result of the flooding.The total financial losses so far are about 30 billion dollars.The Bank of Thailand is lowering its Gross Domestic Product growth estimate for the country from 4.2 to 2.6% because of the flooding.Industrial and agricultural exports will take a hit.
Toyota Motor has had to close three plants in Eastern Thailand because of a disruption of parts delivery caused by the flood.
In Bangkok,it was 84F on Monday under clear skies.The wind was NE at 7 mph,and the humidity was 62%.Good weather for the next several days should help with the flooding situation.
Honda Motor Company,Ltd.(HMC),Toyota Motor Corporation(TM)

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