Honda’s factory in Swindon will not restart production until Monday at the earliest after the Japanese carmaker was forced to shut it down because of significant delays at UK ports.
Disruption at the UK’s largest container port, Felixstowe, has spread to other ports, causing holdups to critical goods entering the country.
Global shipping industry prices have risen dramatically in recent weeks because of disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic, while there is also a shortage of containers at Chinese ports.
Carmakers such as Honda are particularly vulnerable to the disruption because of their “just-in-time” supply chains, which minimise costs by bringing parts to factories only when required.
The Swindon plant, which produces the Civic car, shut down on Monday night because of delays in receiving parts from east Asia. Honda is now considering flying in parts, as Bentley and Jaguar Land Rover have both previously weighed up.
A spokesman said: “Honda UK has confirmed to employees that production will not run on Thursday 10 or Friday 11 December due to transport-related parts delays. The situation is currently being monitored with a view to restart production on Monday 14 December.”
The chaos at UK ports has come at a particularly sensitive time for the UK government, with Boris Johnson personally involved in talks with EU leaders over a trade deal.
Further disruption is expected by many trade experts in January if the Brexit transition period ends on 1 January without a deal. Even if a deal is agreed, importers and exporters will have to fill in new paperwork.
Honda and other carmakers had already built up stockpiles of some parts to ensure they can continue to function for a few weeks without imports from the EU. However, the latest delays meant that other parts were affected.
The delays have prompted criticism of the government from Labour, which said it feared they could threaten Christmas deliveries.
A union official said the chaos at the ports, and the subsequent Honda shutdown, showed it was vital for the car industry that the government agree a trade deal with the EU.
The Swindon plant is scheduled to close altogether in July, but Honda plans to continue to produce cars until then.
