Toyota halts Tianjin operations through Wednesday after explosions

Toyota Motor has made it clear that it will not resume production near Tianjin, a Chinese port where explosions claimed lives of over 100 people on August 12.

“However, due to ongoing evacuation advisories, none of the three lines at Tianjin FAW Toyota Motor Co Ltd will be (in) operation from August. 17 through 19”, Toyota said in the statement.

When the accident happened, Toyota’s operations had been shut for a week’s summer holiday, with production due to restart Sunday, so there was no immediate impact on production from the disaster. Tianjin FAW Toyota built about 440,000 Crown, Reiz, Corolla and Vios cars last year, nearly half of the company’s local vehicle production.

Toyota said more than 50 of its staff were injured in the blasts.

A small number of employees have been injured and windows and doors at some of the company’s plant had been blown out, a spokesman said.

Consumer electronics giant Panasonic said there was minor damage to its plant in the industrial city and that it was halting operations Monday for safety checks.

“Insurance company Eurasia is at the moment calculating the damage on the explosion in China and is ready to pay compensations after considering all the documents”, the Company said.

The accident has also raised fears about toxic chemicals poisoning the air, particularly sodium cyanide.

Automakers from Germany’s Volkswagen Ag to Japan’s Toyota had to assess the damage caused to autos and facilities by the two major explosions in the port city of Tianjin, China’s biggest auto import hub.