The coronavirus outbreak currently gripping China has led the Chinese government to officially order the Chinese New Year holiday season to be extended due. The government has already extended the lunar new year holiday until 2 February for public health reasons, but workers in major cities like Shanghai and Ningbo have been told to stay home until 10 February.
A governmental statement from the city of Suzhou ordered that all corporations have to keep their offices and production sites closed for another week after the traditional Chinese New Year festivities. One company affected is Bafang which has been told that its Suzhou facility must not open until February 8th. In a press release, Bafang informed customers about the closure and its consequences.
“Instead of the usual maximum of 60 days, the delivery of components to OE customers could be extended by a few days”, noted Jack Brandsen, Europe General Manager for Bafang Electric Motor Science Technology B.V.. “We expect 65 to 70 days lead time in the upcoming weeks. This is still much shorter than most of our competition.”
Bafang also noted that should the authorities in China take further measures and/or extend the current mandatory break for companies, even greater delays in the supply chain cannot be ruled out.
According to Chinese officials and the World Health Organization, the number of confirmed cases of Coronavirus has increased to more than 7,700 worldwide by Jan 30th. All but 68 of the infections have occurred in mainland China where a total of 170 people have now died from the mysterious new virus.
