25 August 2015 (04:04 UTC-07 Tango 01)/03 Shahrivar 1394/10 Dhu al-Qa’dah 1436/12 Jia-Shen (7th month) 4713
More than a week after massive thermobaric explosions nearly destroyed the Binhai District in Tianjin, China, Japanese car maker Toyota continues to suffer economically.
Toyota is delaying the re-start of their production lines at least until the end of this week. One report said Toyota’s Tianjin production shutdown is costing them 2-thousand 2-hundred new cars per day!
Toyota is also shutting down their Changchun factory due to lack of parts that are shipped from Japan through Tianjin.
Germany’s Volkswagen confirmed last week’s estimate of the number of VWs lost in the explosions.
French carmaker Renault is considering using ports other than Tianjin for future car shipments.
There are reports that the price of foreign cars are now skyrocketing in China. However, United Kingdom’s Jaguar-Land Rover claims that it won’t raise prices even though there is now a waiting list for their vehicles.
Credit Suisse, of Switzerland, says expected insurance payouts have nearly doubled to $2.2-billion USD.
A Reuters reports said the Tianjin Rui Hai International Logistics warehouse explosions could be seen coming from a mile away: “More than 4-thousand people have actually died in 2-thousand 6-hundred accidents between 2009 and 2014, so this is a significant problem.”-Clare Baldwin, Reuters
Tianjin administrators even ordered Rui Hai International Logistics to review safety concerns at their warehouse the week before the explosions. Analysts blame a combination of complicated multi-governmental agencies trying to regulate the chemical industry, with outright corruption across all levels of business and government.
Research by an Ecosocialist Feminist Revolutionary was able to connect the dots between shareholders of Rui Hai International Logistics and top Chinese government administrators.
The government of China has apparently imposed a news media blackout concerning the Shandong explosions.
Yet another chemical warehouse explodes in China!
The latest stats:
4,460 PLA and police personnel deployed
129 people dead (mainly firefighters, police and warehouse employees)
692 wounded (confirmed 67 Toyota employees wounded, it could have been more as the majority of Toyota employees had the day off, U.S. farm vehicle maker Deere also reported wounded employees, but refused to give specific numbers)
610 people still hospitalized
number of missing reduced to 44
322 rescued
Blast radius 3km
779 buildings damaged or destroyed
More than 11-thousand new cars destroyed, area now called Tomb of Cars
Jaguar-Land Rover reports nearly 6-thousand new vehicles destroyed
1-thousand+ new Toyotas destroyed, 4-thousand 7-hundred new Toyotas damaged beyond repair
Lexus said they had 783 new cars at the port of Tianjin, but did not say they were damage, only that they would be delivered late.
1-thousand 5-hundred new Renaults destroyed
2-thousand 7-hundred new VWs destroyed
Evacuation radius 5km
Vanke Harbor City residential area hardest hit affecting 260-thousand square meters (853-thousand square feet)
10 hectares (24.7 acres) confirmed contaminated with sodium cyanide
17-thousand families evacuated
30-thousand people directly affected
12 schools and 3 apartment buildings now evacuation shelters