TOKYO: Japan's Sharp Corp. has suspended work at two domestic LCD panel plants because of disruptions to industrial gas supplies in the aftermath of the March 11 disaster, a report said Saturday.
The company will idle its Kameyama plant in southwestern Mie prefecture and its Sakai plant in western Osaka until after the Golden Week holiday season in early May, the Nikkei newspaper said.
No Sharp spokesman was immediately available to confirm the report.
The report did not specify what kinds of gases were involved, but disruptions across the supply chain have hit manufacturers all over Japan in the wake of last month's quake-tsunami.
The shutdown, which began earlier this month, is not expected to affect Sharp's LCD TV output because it has a month's worth of panel inventory, the paper reported, without citing sources.
The Kameyama plant has a monthly output capacity of LCD panels equivalent to 1.8 million 32-inch TVs, and the Sakai plant has a monthly capacity of 1.3 million 40-inch TVs, the Nikkei said.
Sharp expects to be able to secure supplies of industrial gas in about a month, it said.
Production at Sharp factories, which produce smaller LCD panels for smartphones and other devices, will continue, it said.
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