JT Forced to Limit Products And Supplies

Source from:  Tobacco Reporter 03/28/2011

Japan Tobacco Inc is to limit temporarily the number of products it supplies in Japan in an effort to bring stability to its supply chains. In a press note posted on its website, the company apologized to its customers and consumers for having to focus on key products in this way. The company said that, as announced on March 14 and March 23, the transportation of semi-finished products and non-tobacco-materials was being affected by a deterioration in distribution channels. Damaged facilities and scheduled blackouts following the earthquake on March 11 were affecting JT's non-tobacco-material supplies. And repairs to some of the damaged group factories were expected to take some time. Therefore, to avoid instability and uncertainty in the supply chains, the company said it had decided to focus for the time being on 25 key products manufactured in factories in the western half of the country. "We will be stabilizing and securing our product supply through optimized manufacturing of quality products and inventory repletion," the company said in its note. "Specifically, we will be temporarily withholding product shipments between March 30 and April 10, 2011, during which time the manufacturing in factories and the inventories of key products will be increased for product delivery to resume gradually from April 11, starting with several products." "We are projecting we will be able to ship out the 25 key products in mid-May." Enditem