Bridgestone Corp. outlined its plans for restarting production at its factories in and near the hard-hit Kanto region of Japan.

Coastal areas of the Kanto region were heavily damaged March 11 by the one-two punch of a 9.0 magnitude earthquake and an accompanying tsunami.

The tiremaker said that truck tire manufacture will take priority when production restarts, as these products are most needed for the recovery of the devastated areas in Japan.

Production at Bridgestone’s Yokohama and Tokyo factories has already recommenced, although electricity supply and other issues are still restricting a return to full production at the Yokohama site.

It is anticipated that Bridgestone’s Tochigi, Nasu and Kurioso factories will recommence production on March 16. Deliveries from the Tokyo plant are expected to restart on March 16 and deliveries from Tochigi and Nasu on March 18 or thereafter.

Bridgestone points out that “though there is no critical damage at the factories, there are some facilities or equipment damaged, and earthquake aftershocks have been following.” Bridgestone also says it will “appropriately” cooperate with the rolling blackouts that have been announced, adding: “At the same time, we will endeavor to minimize the impact of the blackouts through the full utilization of co-generation systems which are installed at each factory.”