Four Spanish plants belonging to tire manufacturer Michelin will suspend production again over the weekend of January 20-21 due to delays in the delivery of raw materials caused by shipping disruptions in the Red Sea, the French group's Spanish subsidiary said on Tuesday.

The United States and Britain launched a series of strikes on Yemen last week, targeting the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels, whose attacks on cargo ships have disrupted one of the world's most important shipping routes since December.

A dozen shipping companies have diverted vessels that previously used this route via the Cape of Good Hope, increasing the crossing time for supplies to Europe by around 10 days.

Michelin had already suspended work shifts at its Spanish plants on the weekend of January 13 and 14, due to longer delivery times for raw materials needed for rubber production and shipped from Asia, the company told Reuters.

Spanish newspaper Expansion reported earlier on Tuesday that Michelin would stop work for a second weekend, and the company later confirmed to Reuters that the stoppage would take place on January 20 and 21.

The decision is similar to measures taken by other manufacturers, such as Tesla and Volvo Car, which announced last week that they were suspending part of their production in Europe due to a shortage of components.

Michelin's plants in Spain are the group's second largest rubber producers, but the subsidiary said it had sufficient stocks to cope with the current situation while maintaining the supply of raw materials by sea, and had no plans to take further action in the country.

(Reported by Corina Pons, edited by Zhifan Liu)