Thousands of South Korean truck drivers went on strike on Sunday for six days protesting over wages by raising fuel costs, disrupting production, slowing port operations and creating new risks to a tense global supply chain. ..
Production at Hyundai Motor’s largest factory complex in Ulsan fell to about 60% on Friday due to a shortage of parts due to a strike, automakers’ union officials said.
The plant worked for additional runs over the weekend to clear the backorder. He said there was confusion in Hyundai, but refused to provide details and expressed his hope of returning to normal as soon as possible.
Hyundai Motor’s Ulsan plant manufactures about 6,000 vehicles daily, the union said. The strike cost automakers 4,000 to 5,000 cars as of Friday-worth up to 235 billion won (171 million euros).
Hundreds of truck drivers sat down on weekends outside the modern Ulsan complex, but did not block vehicles in and out, according to Reuters witnesses.
Employees at Kia’s Gwangju plant used newly assembled vehicles for delivery, the media reported.
battery
LG Energy Solution, SK Innovation’s battery unit SK On and Samsung SDI Co account for more than a quarter of the global electric vehicle battery market.
One of the three companies shipped as a precautionary measure before the strike, according to company officials. The company did not experience any turmoil last week, but officials said it would reassess cargo handling if the strike continued.
semiconductor
Truck drivers will stop shipping raw materials for semiconductors produced in Ulsan, according to an official from the Ulsan Union.
Samsung Electronics Co and SK Hynix, two of the world’s largest memory chip makers, declined to comment.
Officials said a major tech maker did not anticipate short-term turmoil given raw material inventories.
Cement, steel
Steel maker POSCO said the strike stopped shipments from the two plants by about one-third, or 35,000 tons a day.
According to one executive, a major cement maker had stopped shipping for four days as of Friday, truck drivers were out of the gate, raw materials were scarce, and storage capacity was reaching its limits.
Newsis reported that truck drivers blocked access to the worksites of Hanil Cement and Sonshin Cement in Chungcheong Province. The two companies said they are planning to increase train transport to minimize the impact.
Refiner, petrochemicals
The number of vehicles entering the Tatsuyama Petrochemical Complex will be reduced by about 90% from normal levels, and truck drivers will tell non-union drivers not to enter the complex, said Park of the Truck Driver Union. ..
Strikes threaten the logistics of polyethylene and polypropylene, said a person familiar with South Korea’s petrochemical business.
As of Thursday, major refiners hadn’t had a significant impact on shipments and deliveries, and gas stations usually had inventories covering two weeks, but a prolonged strike would make things worse, company officials said. Said.
South Korea has the world’s fifth largest refining capacity, with crude oil distillation refining capacity of 3.3 million barrels per day in early 2020.
HiteJinro
According to Yonhap News Agency, police have arrested more than 20 people, including members of the Truck Driver’s Union, for blocking the HiteJinro Brewery in Toshikawa, southeastern Seoul.
Ports and containers
Busan Port, the world’s seventh-largest container port, said the strike reduced container transport to two-thirds of normal.
According to government officials, container storage is full and authorities are discussing measures to secure more.
According to government officials, container movement at Ulsan Port, which accounts for about 10% of South Korea’s port traffic, has been suspended since Tuesday.
