Boeing 737 MAX Production Secured Despite Fastener Shortage

By Allison Lampert and Dan Catchpole

SEATTLE (Reuters) -Boeing has secured new stocks of specialized nuts and bolts that hold together its top-selling commercial jet, two industry sources told Reuters, avoiding for now any slowdown in U.S. plane production due to a fire at a key supplier's factory.

Boeing had been running low on specific fasteners used to attach the landing gear on its 737 MAX jets because of the February fire, but secured new supplies in recent weeks, albeit at higher prices, one of the sources said.

A Boeing spokesperson said the company is taking steps to address fastener shortages but did not provide specifics.

"We don’t expect a near-term impact to commercial production," they said.

Running out of the fasteners could shut down Boeing's 737 MAX production line, a key revenue source, said the two sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

As dwindling fastener supplies threaten the broader aerospace industry, some producers of the nuts taking on contracts to provide alternate supply are hiking prices to reflect rising costs of materials and labor, a third senior industry source said. 

The price of some specialized fasteners, which currently cost hundreds of dollars apiece, could rise by double-digit percentages, one executive said.

The supply shortfall comes as the aerospace industry faces threats from U.S. President Donald Trump's fluctuating tariff policy, which could affect the price and delivery times of planes and parts.

The shortage has also raised industry concerns about a longer-term supply crunch as Boeing seeks to ramp up 737 MAX production, which was crippled last year by quality concerns and a seven-week strike by factory workers. Output of the jet remains under strict scrutiny by federal regulators.

Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg told analysts this year he wants to exceed a regulatory-capped MAX rate of 38 a month in 2025 to hit 42 by year's end - a target that would roughly double the planemaker's January production.

Fasteners are components used to attach plane parts together and can include rivets, nuts, bolts and screws. The fasteners range from bolts half an inch long to screws several inches long.

DOWNSTREAM EFFECT

Boeing and other aerospace firms have been scrambling for nuts since a fire gutted a huge factory in the Philadelphia area run by SPS Technologies, a critical source of fasteners.

SPS has been Boeing's sole source for as many as 40 parts, and securing alternative sources for some of those parts could take nine months or longer, according to Jefferies analyst Sheila Kahyaoglu. She added that Boeing's risk is limited by its low production rates and generally large parts inventory.

The loss of the SPS factory could create a wider problem as planemakers ramp up output, however, Kahyaoglu said.

It takes hundreds of thousands of fasteners to produce a narrowbody jet like a 737, said Glenn McDonald, a principal at consulting firm AeroDynamic Advisory. 

While most of those components are standard and produced by multiple sources, some fasteners manufactured by SPS, which is owned by Berkshire Hathaway's Precision Castparts Corp, are highly specialized and not easily sourced elsewhere.

Fastener suppliers Howmet Aerospace and LISI Aerospace have said they are receiving additional inquiries for their products after the fire, which caused no deaths.

"There's no way that doesn't have a downstream effect," McDonald said of the blaze.

Industry-wide demand for nuts was important enough for France's aerospace industry to include them on a list of critical U.S. items that should not be targeted by potential European counter-tariffs, according to a recent letter to the EU Commission seen by Reuters.

An unexpected fastener shortage in 2007 forced Boeing to delay the first test flight of its 787 Dreamliner.

(Reporting by Allison Lampert in Montreal and Dan Catchpole in Seattle. Additional reporting by Tim Hepher in Paris; Editing by Joe Brock and Rod Nickel)