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Yagi disrupts infrastructure, power supply
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LG Electronics, Jinko Solar among companies hit
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Many expect to resume some activity soon, some need longer
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Flooding hits goods ready for export to US, EU
(Updates Sept 11 story with comment from JAL in paragraph 12)
By Francesco Guarascio, Phuong Nguyen and Khanh Vu
HANOI, Sept 11 (Reuters) - Typhoon Yagi caused severe
damage to many factories and flooded warehouses in northern
Vietnam's export-oriented industrial hubs, with some shuttered
plants expected to need weeks to return to full operation,
executives said.
Asia's strongest typhoon this year was still causing deadly
floods and landslides on Wednesday, killing dozens and ravaging
infrastructure such as power networks and roads, after it hit
the coast on the weekend.
The disruptions could affect global supply chains as Vietnam
hosts large operations of multinationals that mostly export
their products to the United States, Europe and other developed
countries.
"Many of them are gone with the wind," said Calvin Nguyen,
head of Vietnamese logistics firm WeDo Forwarding Co., referring
to products that were to have been delivered to the United
States and the European Union, but without saying which.
The company's three warehouses in the coastal city of
Haiphong had their roofs blown off and were still flooded on
Wednesday, he said.
The industry ministry did not reply to a request for
comment.
In Haiphong, one of the areas worst hit by the typhoon, 95%
of businesses had been expected to resume some activity by
Tuesday, the body managing its industrial zones said.
"Many businesses had their roofs blown off, some walls
collapsed, gates, fences, signs, camera systems, garages and
sliding metal doors were overturned, water flooded into
factories," it said on its website.
In industrial zones hosting factories in Haiphong and the
neighbouring province of Quang Ninh, 20 of 150 investors' plants
will be out of service for at least a few weeks, said Bruno
Jaspaert, head of the zones.
He expected power consumption there to stay a third below
normal for weeks or months, as many companies were busy
rebuilding damaged factories, he said, citing a damage survey.
Among those hit was Jupiter Logistics, part of a group
co-owned by Japan Airlines Co Ltd ( JPNRF ), said one official
familiar with the survey.
Damage to Jupiter's warehouse was minor, a spokesperson for
JAL said on Thursday, noting the cargo stored there had to be
moved to a different location.
In another industrial park in Haiphong, South Korea's LG
Electronics said it had partly resumed work on
Tuesday after a factory's walls were crushed on Saturday and a
warehouse of refrigerators and washing machines was flooded.
POWER CUTS
As state-owned power distributor EVN works to restore dozens
of damaged electricity lines, power outages are still crippling
several areas in the north.
In Quang Ninh, north of Haiphong, many factories still
lacked electricity or water, Jaspaert said.
Chinese solar panel maker Jinko Solar's factory
there was severely damaged, one of its workers said, as windows
had been smashed and the roof blown away, keeping work from
being resumed on Tuesday.
Jinko officials were not immediately available to comment.
Far from the coast, the industrial hubs of Thai Nguyen and
Bac Giang, home to large factories of multinationals, such as
Samsung Electronics ( SSNLF ) and Apple ( AAPL ) supplier
Foxconn, also faced the risk of floods.
However, a Reuters witness said there were no signs of
flooding on Wednesday at Samsung's large facilities in Thai
Nguyen, about 60 km (37 miles) north of Hanoi, as water was
receding, though more rain was expected.