Promotional products wholesaler Tuapeka Gold Print imports 90% of its stock from China and chief executive Greg Jolly said he hoped the company would start getting stock again by the end of the month.
‘‘In terms of timing we’ve got a good coverage of stock at the moment, but obviously we’re concerned what the long-term effect’s going to be with factories getting up and running and clearing a backlog ... and how that will affect supply during the year.
‘‘The proof of the pudding will be when we know we’ve got containers on a ship.
‘‘If we get some containers being dispatched later this month, ... we should have good continuity of supply.’’
Some product lines were likely to have delays, Mr Jolly said.
‘‘If there’s huge demand for certain stock lines and we run out, then, of course, there will be some long delays in replenishing that stock.’’
The company, which employs more than 400 staff, has gone through extensive growth recently.
It bought an 8ha site near its factory and warehouse in Fairfield and planned to build a new 15,000sqm warehouse on it.
None of that was likely to change in light of recent events in China, Mr Jolly said.
‘‘I don’t want to be stimulating fear. Our approach is a cautious approach. There is no reason to start changing all of our plans over Covid-19 at the moment.
‘‘We’re still very much planning to go ahead with our build.’’
He said the company was not likely to have growth as high as it had in the past.
It would take a ‘‘wait and see approach’’.
Mr Jolly said he knew factories in China were back up and running with reduced staff.
‘‘With the communication we’ve had with suppliers, they’re committing to dates and shifting to other dates in terms of getting stock out.
‘‘A lot of places are saying they’re up and running but they’re not at a full workforce yet because people are staying at home.’’
He expected containers to be shipped this month.
‘‘We’ve got to have confidence that at some stage everything’s going to come back on line.
‘‘There will be some backlog we’re going to have to work through.
‘‘We’re expecting it to be a difficult year but not ... everything to come crashing down, for want of a better word.’’
