People swim near a pavilion partially submerged in flood waters on the banks of the Yangtze River
Shanghai:
Large parts of China were in shock on Friday from the worst floods in decades, as disruptions mounted for supply chains, including personal protective equipment (PPE), vital in the fight against the new coronavirus .
The central city of Wuhan and the provinces of Anhui, Jiangxi and Zhejiang declared red alerts as heavy rains swelled the rivers and lakes.
Wuhan, on the banks of the Yangtze River where the new coronavirus emerged late last year, warned residents to take precautions as water levels quickly approached their maximum guaranteed safety level.
The summer rainy season causes floods in China almost every year, but the impact of the disruption they cause is felt further as Chinese products become more prominent in global supply chains for various items, including PPE.
“It’s just about creating another major hurdle here in terms of PPE entering the US – this is the worst time for that to happen, but that’s what we are facing right now” said Michael Einhorn, president of Dealmed, a US medical supplies distributor, which purchases disposable lab coats and other products in Wuhan and surrounding areas.
“We cannot release a product for more than a week, which is a very long time in our business,” he said, adding that delays could last up to three weeks.
Xiantao, just west of Wuhan, is the largest Chinese manufacturer of nonwoven fabrics used in the production of PPE. A third of total Chinese exports of nonwoven fabric products come from the city.
With relentless rain, more misery seems inevitable.
The giant Three Gorges reservoir, which retains more water in an attempt to mitigate the risks of downstream flooding, is more than 10 meters above its warning level, with inflows now greater than 50,000 cubic meters per second.
Lake Poyang in Jiangxi Province, which is formed from the overflow of the Yangtze, is 2.5 meters higher than its alert level. It expanded by more than 2,000 square kilometers during the flood season, and parts of the surrounding city were flooded.
Further east, Tai Lake, near Shanghai, also declared a red alert after its water level reached nearly a meter higher than its safety level.
Economic activity in other parts of China, particularly construction and demand for steel and cement, was also affected by the floods, analysts suggest, suggesting some slackening after a stronger rebound. than expected in the second quarter of the coronavirus crisis.
“We estimate that the recent floods in the Yangtze River regions could cause 0.4-0.8 percentage points of gross drag on GDP growth in the third quarter,” Morgan Stanley analysts said in a note on Friday. to customers.
(Reporting by David Stanway; Editing by Robert Birsel and Gerry Doyle)
(This story has not been edited by GalacticGaming staff and is automatically generated from a syndicated feed.)
