11th day of cargo union strike… Daejeon and Chungcheongnam-do industries continue to suffer damage

As the cargo union strike enters its 11th day, damage to industries in the Chungcheong region, including Daejeon and Chungcheongnam-do, continues.

According to industries in the Chungcheong region on the 4th, as the logistics barrier of the cargo union is prolonged, operations in the oil refining, construction, and automobile and tire industries are experiencing difficulties.

In the case of Seosan, Chungcheongnam-do, the damage to companies in the Daesan Petrochemical Complex is not serious. On the 11th day since the general strike of the cargo union started, tank trucks, which are supposed to go to different parts of the country, are standing still in front of the main gate of the Hyundai Oilbank works at the Daesan Petrochemical Complex. An average of 150 to 200 tank trucks were operated each day, but the operation has now completely ceased. The participation of non-union members in operation is also low, so there is almost no overland transportation. The police sent 20 personnel to the location to prepare for any unexpected events such as clashes with union members.

The situation is the same for other petrochemical companies such as Lotte Chemical and Hanwha Total Petrochemical. Lotte Chemical used to ship around 3,000 tonnes of petrochemical products per day, but has now reduced that by more than half to 700-800 tonnes. LG Chem and Hanwha Total Petrochemical, which have started open storage, are also in a position where they have to reduce production or suspend the operation of some factories if product shipments continue to be suspended.

In Dangjin, Chungcheongnam-do, the construction industry is in crisis due to the disruption of ready-mixed concrete supply. There are 12 ready-mix concrete factories in Dangjin, but only 2-3 are currently in operation due to disruption of cement transportation. Due to this, the construction of Jungheung, Hoban 2-3, Munjang Construction 1st, and Daewoo Prugio Apartments according to urban development projects such as Sucheong District 1 and 2 and Gijisi-ri, Songak-eup are currently delayed.

An official from remicon company A said, “The factory is stopped because the stock is running out,” and “If construction is delayed, costs such as labor costs increase, and in the end, there is no choice but to charge the owner for the higher cost. The damage will be done by Dangjin residents, including apartment dwellers.”

The situation is not good either for 2-3 factories that still supply ready-mixed concrete. It is a non-union vehicle that is escorted by the police and receives a supply of cement, but the amount is only enough to produce 100 cubic meters (Lube) per day. On the 1st, about 200 members of the Cargo Solidarity clashed with non-union members to block the shipment of cement by non-union members at Pyeongtaek Port.

The damage to ready-mix concrete companies in Daejeon is also severe. The B Remicon Daejeon Plant located in Daehwa-dong, Daedeok-gu, Daejeon had an average of 3-4 bulk cement trailers per day, supplying 1,000 Rube of ready-mixed concrete to local construction sites before the cargo union strike. However, from the 29th of last month, the supply of ready-mixed concrete has been reduced to 250 lube per day.

An official from a ready-mixed concrete company in Daejeon said, “The general strike of the cargo unions stopped the supply of cement, the raw material for ready-mixed concrete, so the factory was inevitably stopped.”

The damage to the car and tire industries located in Geumsan and Asan, Chungcheongnam-do, is increasing due to the prolonged strike.

At Hankook Tire’s Geumsan Plant, tire-loaded container shipments dropped 66.6% from 60 units of 540 tons to 20 units of 180 tons after the strike. Asan’s daily average shipments also plunged 82% from 900 units to 160 units after the strike.

The damage to the oil refining industry became a reality, and citizens were faced with a situation where they had direct experience of inconvenience. As of 2:00 pm on the same day, a total of 88 gas stations are out of stock nationwide, including 10 in Chungcheongnam-do, 6 in Chungbuk, and 3 in Daejeon.

In Daejeon, I was able to check some gas stations that were posting ‘out of stock’ notices.

There are comments that the government will issue an order to start work in the oil refining sector following the cement sector on the 5th at the earliest. [본사종합]