Factories in Vietnam’s export hub may face weeks of disruption after Typhoon Yagi

Typhoon Yagi badly damaged a large number of factories and flooded warehouses in northern Vietnam’s export-oriented industrial hubs, forcing factories to close, with some expected to take weeks to resume full operations, executives said.

The typhoon, Asia’s strongest this year, hit Vietnam’s northern coast on Saturday and was still causing deadly floods and landslides on Wednesday, killing dozens and devastating key infrastructure, including power grids and roads. (Editor’s note: More than 150 people died as a result of the typhoon, according to media reports on 9/11).

The disruption could affect global supply chains, as Vietnam is home to large operations of multinationals that mainly export their products to the United States, Europe and other developed countries.

In the coastal city of Haiphong, one of the areas worst hit by the typhoon, 95 percent of businesses were expected to resume some activity on Tuesday, the body that manages the Haiphong Industrial Zones said on its website.

“Many businesses had their roofs blown off, some walls were broken and collapsed, gates, fences, signs, camera systems, garages and metal sliding doors were overturned, water flooded into factories,” a report said. from its website.

In the DEEP C industrial zones, which host factories in Haiphong and neighboring Quang Ninh province, 20 of 150 investor factories will be shut down for at least several weeks, said Bruno Jaspaert, head of DEEP C industrial zones.

Based on an analysis of his customers, he expected power consumption at those facilities to remain a third below normal for weeks or months as many companies were busy rebuilding their damaged factories.

Among the hardest hit in that industrial park was Jupiter Logistics, which is part of a group owned by Japan Airlines Co Ltd 9201.T, according to an official familiar with the damage survey.

Jupiter Logistics was not immediately available for comment.

Goods ready for export or delivery to customers were flooded into warehouses in the area, the companies said.

In another industrial park in Haiphong, South Korea’s LG Electronics said it had partially resumed work on Tuesday, although factory walls were crushed on Saturday and a warehouse of refrigerators and washing machines flooded.

“Many of them disappeared with the wind,” said Calvin Nguyen, head of Vietnamese logistics company WeDo Forwarding Co., referring to products that were to be shipped to the United States and the European Union, without specifying which goods.

The company’s three warehouses in Haiphong had their roofs blown off and were still flooded Wednesday, he said.

The Industry Ministry did not respond to a request for comment.

Power outage

The power outage was still affecting several areas in the north as Vietnam’s state power distributor EVN worked to restore dozens of damaged power lines.

In Quang Ninh, along the coast north of Haiphong, many factories still had no electricity or water, Jaspaert said.

Chinese solar panel maker Jinko Solar’s factory in Quang Ninh was badly damaged, one of its workers said, noting on Tuesday that work had not resumed because windows were broken and the roof was blown off.

Jinko was not immediately available for comment.

Far from the coast, the industrial centers of Thai Nguyen and Bac Giang, home to large factories of multinationals such as Samsung Electronics and Apple supplier Foxconn, also faced severe flooding.

Samsung’s large facilities in Thai Nguyen had not been visibly affected by Tuesday evening, according to a Reuters witness.

Water was receding Wednesday in the province, about 60 km (37 miles) north of Hanoi, but more rain was expected.

(Reporting by Francesco Guarascio, Phuong Nguyen and Khanh Vu in Hanoi; Minh Nguyen and Thinh Nguyen in Thai Nguyen; Additional reporting by Heekyong Yang in Seoul; Editing by Sonali Paul)

Photo: Flood triggered by typhoon Yagi submerges houses in Bac Giang province, Vietnam, Sunday, September 8, 2024. (Le Danh Lam/VNA via AP)

TOPICS
Catastrophe Natural disasters Tech