Respirators are sold out at the Swiss online retailer. Production cannot meet demand, it is said. There are still a few disinfectants and clinical thermometers in stock, “but delivery difficulties are also becoming apparent here”.
iPhones from Apple are hardly available anymore: “We still sell the devices we have in stock, but there are practically no fresh deliveries at the moment,” says Galaxus. Intermediaries who still have devices in stock are now charging 5 to 10 percent higher prices than before the outbreak of the coronavirus epidemic.
The economic consequences and measures taken by the Chinese government to curb the epidemic are serious, but temporary: the Swiss Chamber of Commerce is currently assessing the situation.
Its president Felix Sutter says: “We expect that the majority of the traffic hurdles will be removed by mid-March and that the situation will normalize.” This provided that the health situation was under control.
Temporary interruptions in the supply chain can be expected, which “leads to production delays, higher procurement costs and longer delivery times for orders”. The Chamber of Commerce advises Swiss companies operating in China to carefully check their supply chains and to clarify which production locations are affected by the travel restrictions.
The Chinese authorities are currently enforcing numerous travel restrictions within the country, which means certain transport routes are blocked.
Delayed return of migrant workers
Important Swiss export industries such as the pharmaceutical industry depend on suppliers from China, for example for raw materials for medicines.
The Chamber of Commerce reports that in many cities, people arriving from other regions in China are subject to a 14-day quarantine. This also delays the return of migrant workers to the production centers. In addition, some manufacturing facilities only have a limited number of quarantine rooms.
The transport of goods and product components is further slowed down by health checks that drivers have to report to. They are quarantined after cross-provincial deliveries or trips, resulting in a lack of drivers and exacerbating logistics problems.
Permission to resume work required
Companies and factories require local authority approval to resume production. This permission is only granted if the workforce does not show any symptoms of illness and the company has sufficient personal protective equipment for its employees.
According to the Chamber of Commerce, all of this leads to a slower start of economic activity after the statutory holidays, since the health of the population is a top priority for the government. It should be noted that more and more people can start working again every day.
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