COVID-19 Causes Shutdown of Indian Factory... LS Cable & System Also Halts Local Factory Operations

LSCI employees are manufacturing ultra-high voltage cables.

[Photo by LS Cable & System]

[Asia Economy Reporter Ki-min Lee] Due to the Indian government's emergency order in response to the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), LS Cable India's production plant has also been shut down. Local factories of domestic companies such as Samsung Electronics, Hyundai Motor, POSCO, and LG Electronics operating in India have also stopped.

According to the industry on the 24th, LS Cable India's subsidiary LSCI has suspended factory operations and instructed employees to work from home from the 23rd (local time) until the 31st.

Established in 2008 in Bawal, Haryana, northern India, LSCI surpassed 100 billion KRW in sales for the first time in 2018. LSCI's sales in 2018 were 108.9 billion KRW, a 46.5% increase compared to 74.3 billion KRW in 2017. LSCI qualified to participate in the ultra-high voltage cable business in early 2017, and its market share surged to about 30% last year. The industry expects LSCI's sales last year to also exceed 100 billion KRW.

Regarding this shutdown measure, an LS Cable official explained, "LSCI's production volume is not general consumer goods but is based on customer orders," and added, "Since supply is mainly to domestic customers such as state power authorities in India, the impact is expected to be minimal."

Earlier, on the 22nd, the Indian government issued an emergency order to suspend operations of all workplaces except essential businesses such as government offices, hospitals, and grocery stores in 75 regions where COVID-19 occurred until the 31st. Accordingly, production plants of Korean companies operating locally have also stopped.

Samsung Electronics suspended operations at its smartphone factory in Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India, until the 25th starting from the 23rd. The Noida area is where Samsung Display is preparing to establish an organic light-emitting diode (OLED) module factory. LG Electronics will also suspend operations at its Noida factory producing home appliances such as washing machines, refrigerators, and air conditioners, as well as its Pune production plant in Maharashtra state, which has home appliance and smartphone production lines, until the end of this month. Maharashtra state has issued a movement restriction order until the 31st.

Hyundai Motor also suspended operations at its Chennai 1 and 2 plants starting from the 23rd. POSCO has suspended operations at POSCO India processing centers in Delhi and Pune until the 31st, and Hyundai Steel has also stopped operations at its coil plant and steel pipe manufacturing plant in India.

Meanwhile, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in India increased by about 70 from the previous day to 468 positive cases. Among the confirmed cases, there have been 9 deaths.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.