Canon Delays Plant a Second Time

TOKYO: Japan's Canon Inc. said Thursday that it was delaying the construction of a new manufacturing plant for a second time because of the global economic downturn.

Canon, which produces cameras and office equipment, had originally planned to start building the factory in late 2008 in southern Oita Prefecture.

It first delayed the start in November because of the worsening recession, and gave no new target date for the start of construction.

“The significant decline in demand has continued for longer than expected with no clear indication of when a recovery might be expected,” a company statement said.

Canon in December had shelved plans to build another domestic plant for digital cameras in southern Nagasaki prefecture.

The company, once hailed as a success story in Japan's recovery from the 1990s recession, is one of many Japanese manufacturers cutting output and jobs to cope with the global economic downturn.

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