DESPERATELY SEEKING SUPPLY: With raw materials in jeopardy, firms are looking elsewhere to secure their supply chain, while others mull relocating away from China

Taipei Times
Date: Feb 15, 2020
By: Crystal Hsu  /  Staff reporter

Persistent production disruptions in China would not only delay 5G deployment, but also take a toll on Taiwanese firms that depend on raw materials from across the Taiwan Strait, economists said yesterday.

Many Taiwanese firms in China are still unable to resume normal operations amid an outbreak of COVID-19, and uncertainty remains high about the timing and scale of regular operations, Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) researcher Liu Meng-chun (劉孟俊) said.

The Taipei-based think tank contacted Taiwanese companies in China to better understand the epidemic’s impact.

Some firms have resumed 60 percent of production capacity, but many others only have capacity of between 20 and 40 percent, due to a severe lack of labor, Liu said.    [FULL  STORY]