Report: Panasonic to Boost Battery Production

Panasonic Corp. (NYSE:PC) plans to ramp up production of dry batteries to meet shortage in Japan's earthquake-hit areas, which need them to counter severe power outages, the Nikkei business daily reported.

The company plans to add work shifts at its Moriguchi plant and also import batteries from its Thai and Indonesian factories, the paper said. The scale of production increase is yet to be determined, it added.

Officials say at least 10,000 people were likely killed in the 8.9-magnitude earthquake and tsunami that followed it, which also crippled road, rail, power and ports across much of northeast Japan. 1