Vietnam power cuts hit industrial parks

Vietnam's rolling power cuts have hit industrial parks in the country's northern provinces, where top global manufacturers such as Foxconn and Samsung have factories, officials said on Monday, as a surge in consumption amid a heatwave stretched the power supply system.

The frequent and frequently unannounced power cuts caused EuroCham, which represents European companies in the country, to send a letter to the industry and trade ministry on Monday urging immediate measures to address the emergency.

Some industrial parks in the northern provinces of Bac Ninh and Bac Giang have been facing blackouts, said two local investment officials, declining to be named as they were not authorised to speak to media.

We are working with EVN earlier today to discuss the situation and possible measures to limit the impacts, he said, referring to the state utility of Vietnam.

The provinces house production facilities of Canon Inc, Foxconn, Samsung Electronics and Luxshare.

Vietnamese industry ministry should take urgent measures before the country's reputation as a reliable global manufacturing hub is undermined, Jean-Jacques Bouflet, deputy chairman of EuroCham Vietnam, said, adding that the power cuts seriously disrupted industrial activities.

State media reports cited EVN's northern unit as saying power to Canon's plant in Bac Ninh will be cut from 8: 00 am local time on Monday until 5: 00 am on Tuesday, adding power to At least five industrial parks and several villages in the province will be partially or fully cut for several hours during the first days of this week.

It was not immediately clear if the other companies were affected. The companies and EVN did not respond immediately to requests for comment.

The blackouts threaten efforts to avert a slowdown caused by weak demand in key export markets, as first-quarter growth slipped to 3.3% from 5.9 in the fourth quarter.

The nation has been putting off street lights and manufacturers preferring to shift operations to off-peak hours to keep the national power system running, with more than 11,000 firms agreeing to reduce consumption when possible.

At a government meeting over the weekend, Deputy Minister of Commerce and Trade Do Thang Hai admitted that there were power shortages at certain locations at certain times, adding that the difficulties would continue.