Steel Markets

Ford Pauses Mustang Production at Michigan Plant on Chip Shortage
Written by David Schollaert
April 28, 2022
Ford Motor Co. will idle some production of the Ford Mustang sports car due to the ongoing global semiconductor chip shortage, a company spokesperson told Steel Market Update (SMU).
Ford’s Flat Rock Assembly Plant located just 24 miles south of downtown Detroit, Mich., will see a production outage on Thursday, April 28 and Friday, April 29.
“The global semiconductor shortage continues to affect Ford’s North American plants,” he said. “Behind the scenes, we have teams working on how to maximize production, with a continued commitment to building every high-demand vehicle for our customers with the quality they expect.”
The Dearborn, Mich.-based automaker said the disruption will also impact the production of its Shelby GT350 and Shelby GT350R models.
This is the fifth time the Flat Rock assembly plant has seen downtime over the past year due to the lack of microchip readiness, and the second time this month.
All other Ford North American plants were running normal production this week. No additional disruptions are expected during the week of May 2, the spokesperson said.
Though chip and parts availability remain an ongoing issue across the auto industry, aside from General Motors’ week-long outage at its Bowling Green, Ky., plant this week, most other North American automakers reported no assembly delays.
Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Subaru, Stellantis, and Daimler all confirmed to SMU that there are no current or foreseen production stoppages.
By David Schollaert, David@SteelMarketUpdate.com
David Schollaert
Read more from David SchollaertLatest in Steel Markets
Buyers say plate market rejected last round of mill hikes
Participants in the domestic steel plate market said the plate market never accepted mill-issued spot price increases.
Cliffs touts steel stamping solution to replace aluminum in automotive
Cliffs said it successfully completed a defect-free trial production of exposed steel parts using aluminum-forming equipment in collaboration with an unnamed OEM,
Hot-rolled market anticipates no change despite mill mark-ups
Domestic sheet market participants say recent spot price hikes from NLMK USA and Nucor will do little to shake-up stagnant market conditions. Price increases in the current market On Friday Oct. 24, NLMK customers learned that the producer’s hot- and cold-rolled prices increased $50 per short ton (st) and its coated products were $100/st higher. […]
Market sources say regional activity is dictating plate demand
Demand for plate on the spot market remains soft by comparison to years past. However, this week regional demand variations grew more pronounced.
AISI: Raw steel production bounces back
Domestic mill production rebounded last week, according to the latest production figures released by the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI). Production had been historically strong over the summer months before softening in early October.
