Domino Effect ...-------------------------------
Hyundai Suspends Domestic Production Over China Outbreakhttps://techxplore.com/news/2020-02-hyundai-domestic-production-china-outbreak.htmlSouth Korea's largest automaker Hyundai Motor will suspend all domestic production because of a lack of parts due to the coronavirus outbreak in China, it said Tuesday.The global car industry operates on tight supply lines and was thrown into turmoil when Japan's Fukushima earthquake and tsunami in 2011 knocked out a Renesas Electronics factory producing a vital and widely used computer chip.
The outbreak of the coronavirus had disrupted the supply of parts for Hyundai, the company said.
"Hyundai Motor has decided to suspend its production lines from operating at all of its plants in Korea," the carmaker said in a statement.
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Clock Ticking for Companies That Depend On China Importshttps://techxplore.com/news/2020-02-clock-companies-china-imports.html... If much of industrial China remains on lockdown for the next few weeks - a very real possibility - Western retailers, auto companies and manufacturers that depend on Chinese imports will start to run out of the goods they depend on.In order to meet deadlines for summer goods, retail experts say that Chinese factories would need to start ramping up production by March 15. If Chinese factories were instead to remain idle through May 1, it would likely cripple retailers' crucial back-to-school and fall seasons.
Wuhan, the Chinese city where the outbreak hit hardest, is a center of automotive production. It's been closed off, along with neighboring cities, isolating more than 50 million people and bringing factories to a standstill.So far, U.S. automakers haven't had to curb production for want of Chinese parts. But the clock is ticking , said David Closs, professor emeritus at Michigan State University's Department of Supply Chain Management.
"I would say it's weeks at the most,'' Closs said.
"One to two to three weeks.''The partial shutdown of Wuhan has already harmed the production of TV display panels and raised prices, according to a report by research group IHS Markit. The city has five factories making liquid crystal displays, known as LCDs, and organic light-emitting diodes, known as OLEDs, both of which are used for television and laptop monitors. China accounts for more than half of the global production of these display panels.
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Times have changed in ways that are not favorable to containing the economic damage. Back in 2003, during the SARS outbreak, China was the world's workshop for cheap goods—toys and sneakers, for instance. Now, China has moved up to sophisticated machine parts and electronics like LCDs. And it accounts for about 16% of global economic output, up significantly from just 4% in 2003. ...
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Coronavirus: 'We May Have No Clothes Left To Sell'https://www.bbc.com/news/business-51357030-------------------------------------------------
Virus Fears Prompt Shipping Restraints on Vessels From Chinahttps://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-02-04/virus-fears-prompt-asia-shipping-restrictions-ports-updateVessels and trains coming from China are in focus as nations take steps to halt the spread of a deadly coronavirus that originated in the world’s second-biggest economy. Here’s a roundup of some of the latest efforts by authorities around Asia, including quarantines and checks.
Bloomberg is tracking the outbreak on the terminal and online.
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New Zealand Loggers, U.S. Food Exporters Suffer from China's Virus Clampdownhttps://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-health-supplychain/new-zealand-loggers-us-food-exporters-suffer-from-chinas-virus-clampdown-idUSKBN1ZY11B(Reuters) - The economic impact of China’s coronavirus lockdown is being felt across the globe, with exporters, miners and manufacturers of everything from coal and timber to meat and fruit facing delays and potential shipment cancellations.
... For now, the effect is more pronounced for smaller items such as food and forestry products - bulk items like iron ore, fuel and coal have mainly automatic offloading and transfer to storage that has not been affected.
At Gisborne’s Eastland Port on the east coast of New Zealand’s North Island, log exports to China – the port’s main source of revenue – have been halted until further notice, while forestry workers across New Zealand have been told to go home. The port is the country’s second largest log exporter. (
... good news for the forest)Also, New Zealand’s NZ$300 million in annual lobster sales to China have also been badly hit. Local prices of rock lobster have nearly halved as exporters seek to offload stock and fishermen have stopped fresh landings, traders said.
... Compounding the impact of port congestion are the several city-wide lockdowns aimed at stopping the virus’ spread that are preventing people from getting to work.
That is leading to reduced staffing for all the necessary functions at typical entry ports, such as customs officers and freight-handling and inspection workers.
There are also reports of a shortage of pilots for tugboats, meaning large ships now take longer than normal to dock at certain ports.The real problem now is the downstream receiving ports, such as (around) Shanghai and Ningbo,” said a logistics manager at Yingkou port in the northeastern province of Liaoning, a major iron ore and coal hub.
“What we heard from their report is that they don’t have enough people to drive trucks and boats to transfer goods out of the ports by road and by river. So they are having congestion and want us to slow down our pace to send vessels to them.”
The manager of a state-backed logistics firm in Ningbo said that the waiting time has swelled to “at least four days” to unload river barges due to the staffing shortages.
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Xi Jinping Warns Virus May Impact China’s Social Stabilityhttps://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-02-04/xi-warns-virus-may-impact-china-s-stability-at-rare-meetingChinese President Xi Jinping called on all officials to quickly work together to contain a deadly new virus at a rare meeting of top leaders, saying the outcome would directly impact social stability in the country.
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Coronavirus To Test Just How Reliant the World Is On Chinese Manufacturers, With Asia Braced for Shock Wavehttps://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3048950/coronavirus-test-just-how-reliant-world-chinese-manufacturersWith regions of China accounting for 80 per cent of exports on lockdown, factories around Asia are being forced into looking for alternative supplies
Workers trapped in China amid travel bans, while trade watchers as far afield as California wait for boats from China to stop arriving
The world’s second largest economy remains on lockdown, with factories in 14 provinces covering 70 per cent of China’s gross domestic product and 80 per cent of its exports ordered not to open until Monday at the earliest.“Anything that limits the free movement of goods or people is bad for shipping,” said Tim Huxley, founder of the Hong Kong container freight shipper, Mandarin Shipping. “The expected demand decline in China is already being factored into prices of commodities and shipping rates. It’s very difficult to make any decisions while we’re still unclear about how long this is going to go on for.”
Some are sceptical as to whether manufacturing will resume as normal on Monday, given the virus is still spreading, albeit at a slower rate in recent days.
“Some entire factories may not reopen at all because their entire management and a good part of their operators are still blocked in Hubei province – and that is true of many factories,” said Renaud Anjoram, partner and CEO of manufacturing consultancy firm Sofeast.
Within mainland China, oil demand has dried up by 20 per cent, Bloomberg reported, amid a freeze in travel, while metal prices have plunged on consecutive days since markets reopened on Monday, a sign of expected weak demand in key industrial sectors.
All this means the optimism that followed the signing of a phase one US-China trade deal barely three weeks ago already feels like a distant memory. ...
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