* Automakers monitoring resin shortage, no output cuts yet
* Meeting held in suburban Detroit to discuss alternatives
* Evonik says CDT production may not return until winter
* PA-12 alternatives must be tested first – supplier group
By Andreas Cremer and Katrease Stafford
BERLIN/TROY, Michigan, April 17 (Reuters) – As auto
companies and their suppliers met in suburban Detroit to discuss
options amid a shortage of a key resin that threatens global
auto production, owners of the German chemical plant where an
explosion led to the shortage said it will be at least three
months before it can return to normal production.
Evonik Industries AG said on Tuesday that it will
take at least three months and perhaps not until the start of
next winter before its damaged chemical plant in Marl, Germany,
can resume full production of CDT, a key base material for
resins used in auto production and in other industries.
Evonik is the leading maker of cyclododecatriene, or CDT,
which is a base material used to make a nylon resin called PA-12
used as a coating on the fuel and braking systems of most
passenger cars worldwide, auto suppliers said.
A shortage of PA-12 threatens global auto production and
suppliers may not have enough of the resin within a few weeks,
global auto supplier TI Automotive CEO Bill Kozyra
told customers in a letter last Friday.
Automakers, including General Motors Co and Ford
Motor Co, said they are monitoring the situation, but no
production has been cut so far. Neither of the top two U.S.
automakers forecast whether production would have to be cut just
as the U.S. spring selling season hits high gear.
Ford CEO Alan Mulally, speaking to reporters in Los Angeles
on Tuesday, said the company does not yet know if the resin
shortage will cut into its global production.
Toyota Motor Corp officials in the United States
said the company is monitoring the situation and so far has not
had any cutbacks in North America.
Volkswagen AG said the company worldwide has not
had production curbs.
Daimler AG’s Mercedes-Benz said it does not
expect any production cutbacks and is in contact with its
suppliers.
Evonik’s comments came on the same day major automakers and
auto suppliers met in suburban Detroit to discuss ways to keep
auto production up during the acute shortage of PA-12.
Evonik told Reuters in Berlin that it is looking into
alternative materials that can be used as a resin in those
automotive systems without the component CDT.
Two workers were killed in a March 31 explosion that shut
down CDT production at the Evonik plant.
“It is now clear that a significant portion of the global
production capacity of PA-12 has been compromised,” said a
statement issued on Tuesday by the organizer of the
automaker-suppliers meeting, the Automotive Industry Action
Group.
“In the automotive industry, PA-12 is used pervasively in
coatings and connector applications for fuel handling and
braking systems. These are highly engineered products produced
via very complex manufacturing processes,” the AIAG statement
said.
Dave Andrea, vice-president of auto supplier group Original
Equipment Suppliers Association, said most passenger vehicles
around the world use PA-12 to coat fuel lines and it plays a
pivotal role in keeping the fuel system closed, which keeps
polluting vapors from being released.
Andrea said it is likely that automakers will not be able to
assess the impact to vehicle output right away due in part to
the complexity of the supply chain.
“I don’t know that we will know for a week or so” how the
shortage of PA-12 will impact auto output, Andrea said.
Andrea also said that, because fuel linings on vehicles are
an environmental issue, a stringent validation process must be
completed before any untested substitute to PA-12 is used.
Automakers and suppliers discussed alternatives to PA-12 on
Tuesday during their closed-door sessions in Troy, Michigan.
But Andrea said alternatives that have not undergone
rigorous testing cannot be used. To do so would risk legal and
warranty costs as these cars get on the road.
On Monday, French specialty chemical group Akema
said it did not expect production of PA-12 to return to normal
for several weeks. [ID: nL6E8FG3WS]
Akema also said it is working with its customers to see if
other polyamides, PA-11 and PA-10, would work as substitutes.
