Foxconn’s COVID-hit China plant lifts “closed-loop” management curbs

LONDON (Reuters) – HONG KONG, Dec 8 (Reuters) – Apple supplier Foxconn’s COVID-hit Zhengzhou facility in China has lifted its “closed-loop” management curbs on Thursday, it said in a statement posted on its WeChat account.

The Zhengzhou industrial park where Foxconn’s plant locates has been under a so-called closed-loop system that isolated the plant from the wider world for 56 days, the statement said.

The world’s largest contract electronics maker, which has been trying to replenish depleted staff numbers at the site after thousands left over the past month, expects the Zhengzhou plant to resume full production around late December to early January, a company source told Reuters on Monday.

Its Zhengzhou plant was in October hit by a COVID-19 outbreak that prompted it to impose tough restrictions that involved isolating many staff. This in turn fueled fear and discontent among workers and caused many to have to isolate or flee. Later in November, it was hit by a fresh bout of worker unrest that saw staff clash with security personnel over bonus payment issues.

Foxconn could have seen more than 30% of the Zhengzhou site’s November production affected, Reuters reported last month citing a source familiar with the matter. Foxconn hasn’t disclosed details of the impact of the disruption on its production plans or finances, which took place during a traditionally busy period for Apple ahead of Christmas and January’s Lunar New Year holidays.

The company’s November revenue fell 11.4% year on year reflecting production problems related to COVID controls at the major iPhone factory.

(This story has been refiled to fix the formatting.)

(Reporting by Meg Shen and Twinnie Siu; Editing by Toby Chopra)