The Chinese State Council announced that the Spring Festival holiday, which originally was scheduled to end on January 30th, will be extended to February 2nd. However, the Shanghainese government announced that companies in the city of Shanghai are not allowed to resume operations before February 10th.
Michael Podd, Chief Procurement Officer and Senior VP Sales comments: "At this stage it is likely that further government instructions could be released to help contain the Coronavirus. We do not know what these measures will entail, and any additional delay could further impact overall operations in China. Leadership has set up an emergency management team that will frequently update our global network as the situation develops.
"Our procurement and supply chain teams continue to prepare contingency plans where possible to mitigate any potential supply chain issues or delays. Despite the best contingency plans we expect to see material delays as a result of manufacturing and freight disruptions within China, and potentially the effect of additional precautions being taken at local borders to ensure product is safe to bring into the country.
"At this point, CPS has sufficient inventory to support supply through the announced extended closure period. If the closure extends beyond this, we already have substantial stock on the water inbound. In the event this is insufficient we can, subject to the Chinese authorities, expedite material freight, and will be fully transparent with our customers on any additional cost. We will of course prioritize existing customers particularly those with long term contracts,"
