Lack of electricity has prompted the Vietnamese government to call factories of foreign corporations to stop production for many days, including Foxconn – a company specializing in manufacturing for Apple.
The Wall Street Journal last week, citing unnamed local officials, confirmed that Foxconn was asked to shut down production from late afternoon to midnight, which is peak time for electricity use. According to this source, factories have to prepare for a lack of electricity until the end of June.
Earlier this month, Reuters quoted investment officials in the provinces of Bac Ninh and Bac Giang, where factories of Foxconn and Samsung are located, as saying that some industrial parks in these two provinces are facing total power failure.
Authorities in Bac Giang province at that time also warned of severe power shortages and planned to cut off electricity alternately between electricity for domestic use and electricity for production from now until the end of June.
According to Mr. Le Anh Duong, Chairman of the Provincial People’s Committee, Bac Giang will give priority to electricity for production, at night, electricity will be given priority to people for daily life.
During the day, businesses start production from 7:45 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. During that period, the enterprise is provided with uninterrupted power all day to ensure the maintenance and operation of necessary equipment.
Electricity of Vietnam (EVN) said the drought has made it impossible for Vietnam’s 11 hydroelectric plants to produce enough electricity at this time, and that total power cuts are more frequent and likely to last some weeks.
According to Digitime Asia, some Foxconn factories have now been allowed to resume production from midnight to morning. Sources said that Foxconn’s factory in Vietnam is still trying to maintain production to the maximum extent possible, but the company is considering building its own power generation system by 2024.
Thoibao.de (Translated)
