Thai Floods May Take Months to Recede, Delaying Factory Restarts

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-11-16/thai-floods-may-take-months-to-recede-delaying-factory-restarts.html

Thailand’s government said floodwaters around Bangkok may take as long as two months to fully recede, threatening plans by companies including Western Digital Corp. and Sony Corp. to restart production.

Floodwaters are still more than 2 meters (6.6-feet) deep around some factories in Ayutthaya province, and water levels at two industrial estates in Pathum Thani north of Bangkok are higher than protective dikes, hampering drainage efforts, Industry Minister Wannarat Charnnukul said yesterday.

The damage from the nation’s worst floods in about 70 years has increased to an estimated 346.2 billion baht ($11.2 billion) and may curb economic growth by between 3.1 and 3.4 percentage points this year, the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce said on Nov. 10. The central bank said this month it may revise its forecast for 2.6 percent growth this year.

At least 562 people have been killed since late July, when monsoon rains began lashing Thailand. Flooding worsened last month, when rainfall about 40 percent more than the annual average filled dams to capacity, prompting authorities to release more than 9 billion cubic meters of water.