(July 15, 2014) Toyota and Ford have stopped production at South African plants as a two-week strike in the manufacturing industry stems the supply of components.

Toyota, the biggest carmaker by exports in Africa’s second- biggest economy, has halted production of the Corolla, Hilux and Fortuner models at its Durban plant. The shutdown is due to the ongoing strike in the metals industry, cutting supply of car components for the models, Toyota said.

Ford halted output at its Silverton plant outside Pretoria Monday due to the metalworkers strike. Bayerische Motoren Werke AG is operating on two production shifts instead of three, according to spokesman Guy Kilfoil. General Motors’s Port Elizabeth plant hasn’t operated since July 3.

The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa is intensifying a strike after rejecting the latest offer from employers. About 220,000 workers have been idled since July 1, affecting more than 12,000 companies.

The union is holding talks with the Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of Southern Africa as the two parties try to resolve differences regarding the duration of a wage agreement, Numsa industry coordinator Stephen Nhlapo said. Seifsa, as the employers’ lobby is known, is seeking a three-year deal while Numsa is asking for a 10 percent pay increase for one year.

A Numsa strike for higher wages at carmakers last year resulted in a loss of about 45,000 units in production, according to the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa. That cost the industry about $1.9 billion.

Sources: Bloomberg News, the Detroit News