Chinese industrial action cost Cooper Tire $29m in the three months to September 30, the Ohio-based company reported, shedding rare light on the economic impact of a labour dispute in China.
While strikes are common across China, they typically occur at little-known suppliers. On those rare occasions when labour unrest disrupts operations at a large multinational, the impact on a global company’s overall operations is usually not material enough to force disclosure about a specific strike’s financial cost.
The seven-month industrial action at Cooper’s joint venture Chengshan Tire factory in Shandong province derailed a $2.4bn bid by Apollo Tyres for Cooper, in what would have been the largest Indian takeover of a US company. It also occurred at a facility that generates as much as one quarter of Cooper’s revenue and profit.