NAGOYA – Aichi Steel Corp., a steel maker affiliated with Toyota Motor Corp., restarted its plant in Tokai, Aichi Prefecture, on Monday following a more than two-month suspension that temporarily halted domestic production by the world’s biggest automaker.

Aichi Steel resumed operations at the plant — where an explosion occurred on Jan. 8 — about a week earlier than scheduled.

Supply shortages of specialty steels for engines and transmissions forced Toyota to halt all production lines in the country for around a week from Feb. 8, affecting roughly 100,000 vehicles.

Toyota said it would boost production to cover the output reduction by around summer.