Sharp Corp expects to keep production suspended at two Japanese liquid crystal display (LCD) panel plants until early May, as it grapples with unstable supplies of industrial gases after last month's devastating earthquake, a company spokeswoman said on Monday.

Production was halted earlier this month at its Kameyama plant in Mie Prefecture and the Sakai plant in Osaka, which make large LCD panels for TVs, although it aims to maintain steady production of smaller LCD panels for smartphones and other devices.

Currently we are seeing more demand for small and midsized panels than for large ones, so we are focusing on using the gases we procure for production in that segment, said spokeswoman Miyuki Nakayama.

Sharp expects to resume operations at the two plants after the string of Golden Week holidays at the end of April and early May, Nakayama added.

Production at its Taki and Tenri factories in Nara prefecture, which produce smaller LCD panels, will continue.

(Reporting by James Topham; Editing by Edmund Klamann)

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