Virus impacts on world economies
DELAYS: MINERS, MANUFACTURERS GETTING HIT HARD
Fears about spread of coronavirus could lead to shipment cancellations.
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.
As the most populous nation and factory floor for most of the world’s manufactured goods, China is normally the largest and most voracious consumer of a slew of global raw materials, fuels and foods.
But the combination of an extended Lunar New Year holiday and the rapid spread of the deadly coronavirus that has killed more than 420 people and restricted the movement of millions more has jammed logistics channels into and across the country.
That’s caused supply line backups stretching all the way to New Zealand, the United States and beyond. However, 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.
Exports of goods from China have also been disrupted, leading to other supply chain problems.
Hyundai Motors has said it will suspend production in South Korea, its biggest manufacturing base, because of the lack of spare parts from the mainland.
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. –