It is another blow for French industry. On Wednesday, Airbus announced the temporary closure of its assembly plant located in Tianjin, on the country's east coast. To date, the reopening date has not been announced.
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In a press release, Airbus explains elliptically: " travel restrictions in China and around the world pose logistical challenges ". Companies based in China can only follow the recommendations of the Chinese government, which recommends limiting the movement of employees to their workplace, if possible by promoting telework.
Several French firms have thus had, like Airbus, to shut down their production units since the appearance of this virus which resulted in the death of almost 500 people. The famous household appliance group Seb, whose head office is located in the Rhône, had to shut down the seven factories it owns in China via its subsidiary Supor, and this for an extended period until February 10 . One of Seb's sites, however, is located in Wuhan, the focus of the epidemic, and will therefore remain closed until further notice from local authorities.
The automotive sector at the forefront
There are many players in the Wuhan sector - and therefore on the front line when faced with the virus. At the start of the week, Renault announced the extension until February 13 of the closure of its Wuhan plant. The authorities had indeed announced an extension of the holidays of the Chinese New Year until this date. Similarly, PSA does not plan to reopen its factory in Wuhan before February 14, and French automotive suppliers Valéo, Plastic Omnium or Delfingem have also extended the shutdown of their sites, following the instructions of the authorities in Wuhan. .
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In total, 9% of Chinese automobile production is carried out in Hubei province, of which Wuhan is the capital, according to a study by Euler Hermes. However, these closings should not have an impact on French consumers. This production is mainly intended for the Chinese market, and not for large export. The risks of supply disruption in the world are therefore low.
