UPDATE 1-Nike pulling production from four Asian factories

By Alexandria Sage

SAN FRANCISCO, March 24 (Reuters) - Nike Inc plans to stop production from three factories in China and one in Vietnam as part of a global review of its supply chain aimed at making the company more efficient, a senior executive said.

All four factories, whose specific locations were not disclosed, produce footwear for the giant sportswear company on contract. Nike is the main or sole buyer at all four sites, Erin Dobson, Nike's director of corporate responsibility, told Reuters.

'We have begun notification to four factories that we will be discontinuing orders with them,' Dobson said.

Nike is trying to direct production into fewer factory bases instead of spreading orders over a larger number of plants.

The Beaverton, Oregon-based athletic shoe and apparel company uses some 72 factories across the globe, with most in China, Vietnam and Indonesia, in that order.

China will remain the company's largest producer of footwear, equipment, and apparel, Dobson said.

(Reporting by Alexandria Sage, editing by Gerald E. McCormick)

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