Tents sold out as HCMC factories buy in bulk to house workers

Leu Viet company in Binh Tan District has seen a surge in orders in recent weeks, each ranging from 300 to 3,000 units.

On its website, the company has been promoting "disease-proof" tents for factories.

But it is only capable of supplying up to 1,000 tents in several days due to a shortage of staff, a spokesperson told VnExpress International.

"We have been running at full capacity for the last three weeks, but still we cannot meet demand."

Another tent maker in the same district said that it has sold around 15,000 tents to factories during this outbreak, but has been forced to suspend production due to a shortage of raw materials.

WindTrip said it has orders for tens of thousands of units but could not fulfill them.

Around 165 factories are seeking to arrange accommodation for nearly 9,000 workers to keep production going, most of them in tents.

A failure to provide board and lodging means a factory has to shut down until the city lifts the ban.

Thuy Minh, a spokesperson for a camp equipment manufacturer in the northern Nam Dinh Province, said demand began to surge in May along with Covid incidence in Bac Giang, and now it is struggling to fulfill orders from HCMC and southern provinces.

Its production capacity has declined by around 40 percent due to shortage of materials, she said.

"Our employees have been working two hours overtime every day and so we can ship 400-500 tents a day."

HCMC is in its 13th day of a 15-day social distancing order. It has recorded over 35,900 cases in the latest wave.