State forecasters issued a “red alert” for an 11th straight day on Monday as extreme weather continued to wreak havoc with power outages and crop damage. They also raised the national drought alert to ‘orange’ – the second highest level. Drought has already “severely affected” mid-season rice and maize in some southern regions, the agriculture ministry said on Sunday. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register The National Meteorological Center said as many as 62 weather stations, from Sichuan in the southwest to Fujian on the southeast coast, recorded record temperatures on Sunday. The situation could improve from Wednesday as a cold front moves towards China through Xinjiang. The Chongqing region, which reached temperatures of 45 degrees Celsius (113 degrees Fahrenheit) late last week, announced that operating hours at more than 500 malls and other commercial venues would be reduced starting Monday to reduce energy demand. . Malls on the list contacted by Reuters on Monday confirmed they had received the government notice and would comply with the rules. Two hotels on the list said they were still operating as normal but would limit air conditioning use. In neighboring Sichuan province, a major hydropower producer, authorities also extended existing restrictions on industrial power consumers until Thursday, financial news service Caixin reported on Sunday. Electricity production in Sichuan is only at half of normal levels after a huge drop in water levels. Caixin cited battery industry companies as saying that industrial power users in the cities of Yibin and Suining were told to remain closed until Thursday. Sichuan – a major supplier of energy to the rest of the country – recently commissioned a new coal storage base to ensure its thermal plants can operate without interruption. However, about 80% of its installed capacity is hydroelectric, which makes it particularly vulnerable to fluctuations in water supply. People walk along a dried-up reservoir bed amid scorching temperatures as many areas from the country’s southwest to east along the Yangtze River have experienced weeks of record heat in Changxing, Zhejiang province, China, 20 August. 2022. REUTERS/Aly Song read more Several companies confirmed on Monday that they were cutting production due to widespread power restrictions. Pesticide maker Lier Chemical Co Ltd ( 002258.SZ ) confirmed on Monday that restrictions would continue until Thursday. JinkoSolar ( JKS.N ), a major maker of solar power equipment, said its production facilities in Sichuan have been shut down as a result of power shortages, adding that it was “uncertain” how long the measures would last. Toyota Motor Corp ( 7203.T ) gradually restarted operations at its Sichuan plant in China on Monday using a generator after suspending operations last week, a company spokesman said. Several factories in Sichuan and Chongqing, including those of top battery maker CATL ( 300750.SZ ) and electric vehicle giant BYD ( 002594.SZ ), have been able to operate only partially in recent weeks due to power shortages. Sources familiar with the matter said CATL’s Yibin plant makes batteries for Tesla ( TSLA.O ) and there were concerns that the shutdown could eventually affect the U.S. automaker, although production at its Shanghai plant remains unchanged. Shanghai, which has been criticized on China’s Twitter-like Weibo for using electricity generated in Sichuan, imposed its own consumption restrictions on Monday, shutting down decorative lighting in the riverside Bund area and parts of the financial center of Lujiazui for two days. Companies will be encouraged to “scale” energy consumption to reduce peak loads and some construction projects will be suspended, the official Shanghai Daily reported. Major rural areas have warned of crop impacts, with Henan province saying more than one million hectares of land has been affected by the drought so far. About 2.2 million hectares across the Yangtze basin have been affected, according to the Ministry of Water Resources. Poyang Lake, located in one of the Yangtze River’s floodplains and described as China’s “kidney” because of its role in regulating water supplies, is now 67 percent smaller than its average over the past 10 years, it said. the state broadcaster CCTV. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Reporting by David Stanway and Zhang Yan in Shanghai, Martin Quin Pollard in Beijing. Additional reporting from the Beijing newsroom. Editing by Kim Coghill, Gerry Doyle and Susan Fenton Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
