Opportunity in Adversity

As a balancing act starts to revive the economy, industry insiders foresee new trends

- Zhang Shasha

The ongoing novel coronavirus epidemic seemed to have pressed a pause but-ton to the movement of most people over the past few weeks. According to Cong Liang, Secretary General of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), apart from Hubei Province, the hardest-hit place, other provincial-level regions are heading back to work. Enterprises in key areas including medical materials manufacturing, energy, grain, transportation and logistics have reopened,”

Picking up the pieces

Companies providing epidemic control supplies and services such as medical materials and daily necessities were among the first to resume work. They are racing toward full production.

On February 8, four production lines for acrylonitrile, an organic compound used in surgical masks, gloves and protective suits, were in full swing at a Sierbang Petrochemical Co. factory in Lianyungang, Jiangsu Province in east China.

“We made a rational production plan during the holiday and have enough people and materials for production,” Bai Wei, General Manager of Sierbang, said, adding that 1,500 employees had resumed work.

In the first 10 days of February, the company produced more than 25,000 tons of acrylonitrile and other products, alleviating the shortage of raw materials for medical supplies.

Domestic medical mask production capacity had rebounded to nearly 87 percent by February 7, Chen Da, an NDRC official, said. Nearly 95 percent of major grain production and processing companies had resumed production and there was sufficient supply of natural gas, electricity and refined oil, Chen added.

Logistics companies were expected to reach over 40 percent of their normal handling capacity by mid-February, according to the State Post Bureau.