The ‘world’s factory’ works hard to re-open.

 

Like most business sectors that have strong commercial ties to China, the Australian and New Zealand office supplies industry is starting to feel the impact of the coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak.

 

Stephen Gates, managing director of product sourcing group Neon Orient Oceania, told Office Products News that disruptions to the supply chain with China are starting to impact on delivery times.

 

However, Gates said the Chinese are “working hard to resolve the issue” and he had  “full confidence” in the country’s attempts to get its manufacturing base back into production.

 

Gates said that while an estimated 85 per cent of Chinese factories are not operating at full capacity, people are “trickling back to work”.

 

“Now is not the time to panic,” he said, “I understand that more and more people are going back to work and there is a positive momentum,” he said.

 

Neon Orient Oceania is the Sydney-based office of global group Neon Orient, which specialises is sourcing office products and consumer goods from Asia.

 

Supply chains came to a standstill earlier this year as businesses extended the Lunar New Year holiday and multiple local governments implemented restrictions on transportation and the movement of people in efforts to control the epidemic.

 

To reopen plants in many parts of China, owners must submit documents to the Chinese government for all employees, listing their health status, recent travels, dates, quarantine and isolation periods. All but two workers have cleared the government-mandated health check. 

 

Meantime, the venue for Canton Fair, China’s oldest and biggest trade fair, has suspended exhibition activities until further notice due to the outbreak of the coronavirus.

 

Canton Fair was originally scheduled to hold its spring season exhibition at the complex from April 15, according to its website.

 

At this stage, the big Paperworld China fair in Shanghai is still scheduled for November, 2020.

 

In New Zealand, Warehouse Stationery is closely monitoring the effect of the virus on its supply chain.

 

Chief sourcing officer Tania Benyon said some shipments from China could be delayed by up to eight weeks, but they had started sourcing goods elsewhere.

 

"We have options available to us as we have factories manufacturing products outside China, and in addition to our NZ operations we have an office in India," she said.