Tesla Inc. will pause production at its Shanghai “Gigafactory” this week amid a COVID-19 lockdown in the city, according to a new report.
Bloomberg News on Sunday reported Tesla’s facility will suspend production for at least one day, starting Monday. The report said it was unclear if the pause will extend for more days, and that employees there have not been told yet.
Tesla
TSLA,
halted production at the Shanghai plant for two days earlier this month as COVID restrictions tightened. The facility produces more than 2,000 vehicles a day, on average, according to data from the China Passenger Car Association.
A MarketWatch email to Tesla on Sunday seeking confirmation or comment did not receive a response. Tesla dissolved its media relations department in 2020.
On Sunday, the Shanghai city government announced plans to lock down the city of 25 million in two stages. One lockdown, affecting about 11 million people, will start Monday and last four days. The second, affecting about 14 million people, will start Friday and also last four days. The lockdowns will require non-essential workers to work from home, shut public transit and ban people from going out.
China is experiencing its worst COVID-19 outbreak since the early months of 2020, as the omicron variant rapidly spreads.
Tesla stock is down 4.4% year to date, but up 63% over the past year, compared to the S&P 500’s
SPX,
4.6% decline this year and 14% gain over the past 12 months.