With South Korean battery manufacturer LG Chem having warned customers of potential shortages after its production facilities closed, U.S.-owned market intelligence firm Wood Mackenzie has predicted the Chinese battery industry is also likely to suffer from the effects of the coronavirus outbreak.
LG Chem this week announced its battery production lines, and those of its Chinese suppliers in Nanjing, would be shuttered until at least Sunday because of self-isolation measures imposed by the Chinese authorities in a bid to contain the spread of the coronavirus in affected provinces.
With China Global Television Network this morning reporting the death toll had risen to 1,113, U.K.-based analyst WoodMac today revised down its expectation of the amount of new battery production capacity to be added in China this year. WoodMac said the amount of new factory capacity expected could fall as much as 10% compared to its pre-coronavirus prediction, to 237 GWh, meaning the outbreak of the disease could end up costing around 26 GWh of manufacturing capacity this year.