JCB is stopping production at all of its UK manufacturing plants due to a massive slump in demand, resulting from the worldwide Coronavirus pandemic.
The firm says that it will halt production for the rest of this week and the whole of next week at its nine manufacturing plants in Staffordshire, Derbyshire and Wrexham. No decision has yet been taken on what happens from the week commencing Monday, March 30th and beyond.
The firm’s manufacturing facility in China, located close to Shanghai, halted production last month as the impact of the pandemic initially took hold. After several weeks of disruption, the factory is now fully operational.
JCB CEO Graeme Macdonald said: “These measures are unprecedented in the history of JCB but are absolutely necessary to protect the business. As we continue to deal with the health implications of the COVID-19 pandemic, it has become more challenging to maintain business continuity in this volatile economic climate. JCB is a global exporter and worldwide demand for our products has dropped sharply as customers cancel orders and defer deliveries. This is not just a UK issue, it is worldwide and with countries like France, Spain and Italy going into lock-down, those key markets for construction equipment disappear overnight.
