Daicel to build U.S. air bag inflator plant earlier than planned

The Osaka-based company had previously said it would look into constructing a second U.S. factory some time after its current mid-term business plan ends in March 2017, but decided to reschedule to the end of the year through March 2016, a spokesman said on Friday.

Daicel's shares rose as much as 4 percent in Tokyo.

Automakers such as Honda Motor Co have said they are turning to Daicel, Autoliv Inc and others to help supply inflators as Takata struggles to produce them fast enough for the millions of cars being recalled worldwide.

Daicel had originally planned to supply replacement parts from Japan but will also utilize the planned U.S. factory, to be located in Arizona, the spokesman said. The bulk of the cars recalled for Takata's inflators are in the United States.

(Reporting by Chang-Ran Kim; Editing by Stephen Coates)