Boeing to ask Japanese firms to build a fifth of 777X: sources

TOKYO (Reuters) - Boeing Co has lined up Japanese companies, including Mitsubishi Heavy Industries <7011.T> and Kawasaki Heavy Industries <7012.T>, to build one-fifth of its latest plane, the 777X, retaining Japan as its key Asia partner in commercial jetliners, two sources with knowledge of the U.S. company's production plan said.

A fifth of the airframe build would give the Japanese companies a workshare on par with the 21 percent of the 777 they have been fabricating since 1995. But because Boeing plans eventually to make more planes per month, there should be a greater volume of work for the Japanese suppliers, one of the sources said. Boeing's current production rate for the 777 is 8.3 a month.

A Boeing spokesman in Tokyo declined to confirm the information.

"Supply chain partnerships and production system decisions will be addressed at the appropriate time," the spokesman said.

(Reporting by Tim Kelly; Editing by Edmund Klamann)