File photo showing workers in a Nike factory near Ho Chi Minh City work at a production line conveyor belt, putting together Nike sports shoes.
Peter Charlesworth | LightRocket | Getty Images
Nike is at risk of running out of sneakers made in Vietnam as the Covid crisis worsens around the global, according to a new report from S&P Global Market Intelligence.
The warning comes after two of Nike’s suppliers in Vietnam, Chang Shin Vietnam Co. and Pou Chen Corp., recently halted production, due to a rapidly growing Covid outbreak in the region. In fiscal 2020, Nike said contract factories in Vietnam made roughly 50% of total Nike branded footwear.
A new analysis from Panjiva, a business line of S&P Global Market Intelligence, found Vietnam accounted for 49% of U.S. seaborne imports linked to Nike and its products in the second quarter of 2021.
Nike’s imports from Vietnam are led by footwear, Panjiva said, which was included in 82% of shipments in the 12 months ended June 30.
A representative from Nike did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.
Nike shares were down around 1.5% in early trading. The stock is up about 13% year to date. Nike has a market cap of $250 billion.
The disruption is hitting Nike’s supply chain, and others’, right as the retail industry is moving into the all important back-to-school season. Companies have likely already received and stowed away merchandise to stock shelves through the fall, but now is when many businesses would be placing orders for the holidays. Other obstacles, including a shortage of cargo containers and lack of room at ports, have troubled supply chains in recent months.
Brooks Running Company CEO Jim Weber told CNBC late last month that his company was running on a roughly 80-day cycle for shipping, compared with what used to take just 40 days.
“There’s no question the supply chain is strung out in our industry,” he said.
Apparel brands including Levi Strauss and H&M are facing similar headwinds in Bangladesh, home to a number of major clothing manufacturing hubs.
The department store chain Nordstrom is facing delays in the midst of its biggest annual sale.
During a post-earnings conference call with analysts last month, Nike CFO Matt Friend said the company was forecasting supply chain delays and higher logistics costs to persist for much of its fiscal year 2022. Demand from consumers has in many instances been outstripping supply, he said.
That means consumers could very likely find choices limited, or see some items totally out of stock, when they show up to stores or go online to shop in the months ahead.
