Long story short on this, as posted yesterday, is
- China’s Commerce Ministry issued a directive telling families to stockpile essentials
- supply chain are hampered by heavy flooding and COVID-19 lockdowns
The wider media have now picked up on the story with some fevered speculation that it even pre-empts an invasion of Taiwan! (A far-fetched worry that one).
This is a worrying development in China. The concern over supply chains is real, and recent history has shown Chinese authorities have responded in a ham-fisted way to a recent example, the energy crisis. Earlier in the year Chin banned imports of Australian coal and authorities have stood idly by as the price of coal skyrocketed, forcing electricity producers to scale back on purchases (when they could source coal at all) and enforce rolling blackouts impacting both the domestic and industrial sectors. (There are other factors in play but the spiteful moves on coal imports are a biggie. Let’s hope China manages this latest disruption or winter is going to be long and ugly).
