French tiremaker Michelin is planning to stop production at four factories in Spain again on the weekend of Jan. 20–21 due to delays in the delivery of raw materials caused by the crisis in the Red Sea, quoting the company’s Spanish subsidiary, according to a Reuters report on Jan. 16.

Attacks on international shipping at the Red Sea have disrupted one of the world's most important routes. A dozen shipping lines have opted to divert ships that previously used this route via southern Africa, increasing the crossing time for supplies to Europe by about 10 days.

Michelin had already suspended work shifts at its Spanish plants on the weekend of Jan. 13–14 owing to longer delivery times of the raw materials it needs to produce rubber, which are delivered by sea from Asia, the company told Reuters.

Michelin's move in Spain is similar to measures taken by other manufacturers such as automakers Tesla and Geely-owned Volvo Car, which last week announced they were suspending some production in Europe due to a shortage of components.

Michelin's Spanish factories are the company's second-largest rubber producers, but the unit said it had sufficient stocks of rubber to cope with the ongoing situation while it maintained supplies of raw material by sea, and was not planning to take any additional measures in Spain.