Flooding in Central China Threatens Auto Supply Chain

Heavy flooding of the upper Yangtze River in China is interfering with shipments of auto parts by boat to Chengdu and Chongqing, according to The Nikkei.

Torrential rains since July 20 have exacerbated seasonal flooding across the country. Since then, more than 110 people have died from Beijing to Inner Mongolia and nearly 50 are missing, according to state-run China Daily. The newspaper says more than 1.2 million people have been evacuated from flooded areas.

Chinese media report that shipping has been congested since late June at the Three Gorges Dam, where hundreds of boats have been forced to dock. Flooding at the dam is the worst since it was mostly completed in 2006.

Suppliers sending parts to Toyota's assembly plant in Chengdu switched from boats to trucks late last week, The Nikkei reports, without citing sources. Suzuki tells the Japanese newspaper that it has an ample parts stockpile at its plant in Chongqing.

The two cities in Sichuan Province also are home to assembly plants run by Changan, Ford, Geely and Volkswagen and hundreds of their suppliers. The automakers have not said whether the flooding is likely to affect their operations.

Elsewhere in the country, roads and railroad tracks are inundated. Flooding in Beijing was the heaviest since record keeping began in 1951. The city's airport and the main highway Guangdong are under water. Both cities are centers of auto production.