Tesla Halted, Chips Pile Up as Shanghai Lockdown Upends Business
- Restrictions enter second week as Covid cases multiply
- Fallout threatens to hit economic growth, strain supply chains
The Tesla Gigafactory in Shanghai.
Photographer: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg
This article is for subscribers only.
Tesla Inc.’s factory shutdown has stretched out to at least 12 days, much-needed semiconductors are piling up at manufacturers amid a shortage of truck drivers, and bankers are camping in their offices as Shanghai’s Covid-19 lockdown disrupts businesses in China’s financial hub.
Cases are at a record in the city, now the epicenter of China’s worst outbreak since the start of the pandemic, and the lockdown has been extended indefinitely. While the country is sticking to its rigid Covid-Zero containment playbook, President Xi Jinping’s request to limit the economic consequences is becoming harder to achieve in the face of the highly transmissible omicron variant.