Shortages from Thailand's catastrophic flooding earlier this year could spread to the market for aircraft tires as soon as February or March, Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. (GT) said Friday (Dow Jones News Service).  The looming supply squeeze represents a setback for yet another industry after heavy rains swamped many manufacturing plants around Thailand's industrial heart in October. Damage to key factories has already pushed up prices for hard-disk drives and auto parts.

On Friday, Goodyear said its main aviation-tire plant in Bangkok was also hit by the floods, forcing it to idle the facility earlier this year. The tire maker has remained in frequent contact with customers but still predicted a global shortage of bias aviation tires could affect the commercial-airline industry earlier next year.

The company said it couldn't accurately assess the disaster's impact on the aircraft-tire market until the floodwaters had receded during the last week of November.

Goodyear said it is now looking for other viable supply sources for its customers and is also asking other aviation-tire manufacturers to help mitigate the disruption.

The company, meanwhile, has ramped up its production of new tires and retreading at its other factories in Arizona, Georgia, Virginia and the Netherlands.  Goodyear recently reported its third consecutive quarterly profit as it held the line on higher rubber costs while benefiting from sales of premium-priced tires in the U.S. and a surge of winter-tire orders in Europe.