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Thai floods damage nearly 15,000 industrial, manufacturing plants: Aon Benfield

Posted On: Oct. 31, 2011 12:00 AM CST

BANGKOK—More than 14,800 industrial and manufacturing plants may have been damaged in this month's devastating floods in Thailand according to a report by Aon Benfield, while up to 100,000 vehicles in production may be lost because of the shutdown of nine Japanese-owned automobile production facilities.

The floods are the worst in Thailand in 50 years, according to the report released Monday, and will result in hundreds of millions of lost revenue for companies dependent on factories and supplies in Thailand.

Insurance claims resulting from the floods already are in excess of $3.3 billion, according to the Thai Office of Insurance Commission, the report noted.

Electrical appliances, equipment

The hardest hit industries were electrical appliances and equipment, automobiles, and food and beverage manufacturers, Aon Benfield noted.

Dozens of factories operated by global corporations were forced to close when floodwaters entered the Rojana Industrial Park, it said.

The floods have had a major effect on automotive production and its supply chain, according to the report.

In a preliminary estimate, the Thai government said economic losses could top $6.5 billion.

Tourism, infrastructure

Another major industry that has been negatively affected by the floods is tourism, though the full financial impact of this is not yet known.

Infrastructure and transportation also were hit hard by the flooding, the report states. Some 535 highways were covered by floodwaters at a cost of $163 million, while 67 roads have been destroyed, according to the report.

The agriculture sector also has been affected, the report notes. It cites an estimate from the International Rice Research Institute that between 3 million metric tonnes (3.3 million tons) and 5 million metric tonnes (5.5 million tons) of paddy rice may have been destroyed.

The president of Thailand's largest seller of packaged rice has estimated that the Thai export price for rice, a global benchmark, could climb as much as 21% per metric tonne by December, the report notes.

View a slideshow of the flooding in Thailand.