The Myanmar Garment Manufacturers Association says, garment factories in the country face the risk of shutdown as Coronavirus has restricted imports of all major raw materials. Myanmar imports up to 90 per cent of raw materials from China and the rest from Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand and South Korea for the garment industry which largely uses a cut-make-package (CMP) model.
The number of deaths from the Coronavirus outbreak in mainland China has risen by 136, pushing the nationwide death toll to 2,004. There are over 70,000 confirmed cases across the country. Many businesses, including suppliers for Myanmar’s factories, are struggling to function properly.
Majority of clothing factories have stopped running overtime due to dwindling stocks. Normally clothing factories run 10 hours on weekdays, which include two hours of overtime, as well as overtime on weekends. But many factories are closing on weekends and not running overtime on weekdays.
