JCB cuts production as coronavirus component shortage hits

The company joins a list of global companies enacting similar measures as the economic impact of Covid-19 proliferates

UNITED KINGDOM - OCTOBER 29:JCB earth movers parked at one of the JC Bamford Excavators Ltd. plants in Uttoxeter, U.K., on Wednesday Oct. 29, 2008. Workers at JCB, a closely held U.K. manufac
JCB earth movers parked at the JC Bamford Excavators Ltd. plant in Uttoxeter
(Image credit: Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Yellow construction vehicle manufacturer JCB has become the first British company to suffer the direct impact of the Wuhan coronavirus, cutting production and working hours in its UK factories.

China’s economy has slowed violently as workers stay home for fear of being infected with Covid-19, which is now known to have killed at least 1,400 people worldwide, and this has meant JCB is already facing a shortage of components, many of which it sources from the world’s second largest economy.

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William Gritten

William Gritten is a London-born, New York-based strategist and writer focusing on politics and international affairs.