UPDATE 1-Nissan to set up parts export base in Thailand http://today.reuters.com/stocks/QuoteCompanyNewsArticle.aspx?view=CN&storyID=2006-07-18T092749Z_01_BKK248544_RTRIDST_0_AUTOS-NISSAN-THAILAND-UPDATE-1.XML&rpc=66
Tue Jul 18, 2006
(Adds quotes, details)
BANGKOK, July 18 (Reuters) - Nissan Motor Co. (7201.T: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Tuesday it will set up an auto parts export base in Thailand that will ship about $300 million worth of locally procured components to its manufacturing plants around the world in 2007.
The facility, at Laem Chabang about 130 km (80 miles) southeast of Bangkok, would be Nissan's biggest parts export base outside of Japan, the company said in a statement.
The move is part of Nissan's strategy to reduce costs by increasing the share of parts from markets that are less expensive than Japan. In April, Japan's second-biggest auto maker established a similar export base in Shanghai, China, and it is building another one in Indonesia that is projected to be operational in August 2007.
Exports from the Thai base, which will ship components initially sourced from 94 local suppliers, will include body panels and roof assemblies for the Tiida compact car to be assembled in Mexico and other countries, Nissan said.
The Thai facility is expected to be fully operational in January. "This is part of our plans to undertake more efficient global sourcing operations. Parts from Thailand and China are cheaper than those from Japan," Nissan Vice President Akihiro Ishiwatari told reporters in Bangkok. He said the Thai export centre would export about 1,080 containers of auto parts a month, compared with about 6,000 per month from its base in Japan.
Exports from the Thai base would rise further in the future, provided Nissan's suppliers offer competitive prices, said Vice President Yasuaki Hashimoto.
The Indonesian export centre that is under construction will export about 370 containers a month beginning next year, while about 100 containers would be shipped out of China each month.
Parts exported by the Thai centre would go to Nissan's plants in Mexico, South Africa, Spain, the United Kingdom, Malaysia, Taiwan, the Philippines, Japan, and China.
© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.