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The recent floods in Thailand brought to a grinding halt movement of goods within the country, which is a major sourcing destination for the global automobile industry.
With most of the manufacturers forced to shut down their production due to the floods, the Indian company, TVS Logistics, which is an end-to-end transport operator for some of the large manufacturers in Thailand, too was not spared from the nature’s fury.
The Chennai-based company, which has a subsidiary in Thailand, had to close down its operations for two weeks in October. In the last couple of weeks, the company’s operations there were only 50 per cent, said Mr R. Dinesh, Managing Director of TVS Logistics. “We lost around $1.4 million due to the floods,” he said.
With no work for its 60 plus employees, the subsidiary company, TVS Logistics Siam, used the period to train its people to get ready for ‘some fast action’ when the recovery happens, he said. TVS Logistics Siam is a joint venture between Thai Martin Trading Co Ltd and Tyvin International Co Ltd.
A recent report in Associated Press said that the floods began in late July, fed by heavy monsoon rains and a series of tropical storms. The floodwaters swamped entire towns as they moved south through the country's central heartland to Bangkok and the Gulf of Thailand. Over two-thirds of the country's 77 provinces have been flooded during the four-month-long crisis.
Mr Dinesh said that automobile, car and component manufacturers were badly affected, and most of the companies had to shut down due to the floods. However, with water receding slowly, Mr Dinesh expects normalcy to return by the month end or December first week. “From January, the local industry will work really hard to compensate the loss of nearly two months. We are also gearing up to meet the challenging times ahead,” he said.
Thailand is a major destination to source materials for global automobile majors. However, during the recent floods, the companies had to source their materials from countries such as China and Taiwan.
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