Speaking to Lusa news agency, the company's official source confirmed the forced stoppage as being attributed to a "disruption of the component supply chain", and stated that the "production stoppage it is a consequence of problems at the Sines Container Terminal and ship delays”.

According to the same source, "this problem is added to the scarcity in the supply of semiconductors", with the resumption of activity "dependent on the resolution of problems".

The Mitsubishi Fuso Truck Europe (MFTE) factory in Tramagal is FUSO's production centre in Europe and employs 450 workers, integrating Daimler Truck, the world's largest manufacturer of heavy vehicles.

The company also reported that the activity at the MFTE factory in Tramagal, in the municipality of Abrantes, "has been affected in recent months by global issues of lack of containers and the delay of ships coming from Japan on the Asia-Europe maritime route", which “have already led to sporadic stops” in production.

"This week," added the same source, "the situation has worsened with further interruptions in the supply chain due to delays related to major congestion in operations at the port of Sines and in rail transport."

The annual production in 2020 at the Tramagal plant was 6,328 units, with a turnover of 151 million euros. With a total of 450 employees, MFTE had the European Union, the United Kingdom and Switzerland as its main markets.

MFTE has already produced more than 200,000 vehicles at the Tramagal plant, 95% of which for export.

In 2019, it manufactured 11,036 Canter vehicles, more than 90% of which for export to the European market and also to the United States, Israel, Turkey and Morocco.

The company located in the municipality of Abrantes, the largest exporter in the district of Santarém, had revenues of around 222 million euros in 2019.