Seoul, Jun 14 (EFE).- South Korean automaker Hyundai will suspend operations at its United States plant in Alabama for three weeks due to the shortage of semiconductors and to carry out maintenance work, a company spokesperson told EFE on Monday.

"Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama will suspend production the week of Jun. 14 due to semiconductor supply conditions. The plant will resume production on Jun. 21 and will continue to take steps to optimize production," the manufacturer said.

After this one-week hiatus, the facilities will suspend production again between Jun. 26 and Jul. 11 for a routine annual maintenance period.

Car manufacturers around the world are being hit by a chip shortage affecting production.

Hyundai, which has 10 plants abroad (four in China, one in the US, Czech Republic, Turkey, Russia, India and Brazil) and seven in South Korean - with a combined production capacity of about 5,5 million vehicles-, has already temporarily stopped some of its national plants for this reason.

To that must be added temporary suspensions linked to the Covid-19 pandemic, the most recent in May at its Indian plant, after two workers were infected and others held a sit-in amid growing fear of the pathogen.

Subsidiary Kia also temporarily halted production at its US plant and another in South Korea in May because of the same problems.

Hyundai is the largest vehicle manufacturer in South Korea by sales and together with Kia are the fifth largest automaker globally. EFE

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