Leather chemicals group Lanxess has confirmed that production re-started at its factory in Changzhou in China on March 3.

It said it had put a “crisis management team” in place in China as soon as it became clear that, owing to the outbreak of the coronavirus, its operation there would be unable to resume production as planned following the Lunar New Year holiday at the end of January.

It insisted the crisis management team had provided customers with good support during the weeks of the factory’s closure.

Now that the factory in Changzhou, about 175 kilometres west of Shanghai, is in operation again, Lanxess said it would try to have its products available again as quickly as possible to help leather manufacturers restore full production in tanneries.

However, it warned that logistics and its ability to distribute products to tanners would remain “tight” for some weeks.