Apple Supplier Closes Factory After Claims of Pollution, Weird Smells

Catcher Technology, an Apple supplier in Suzhou, announced Sunday that it had already shut down parts of its Suzhou factory operations after local citizens filed complaints with the local government, complaining of bizarre smells. Specifically, its Kesheng factory, which had also been accused of polluting the environment on a recent CCTV expose, was closed, an official with the Suzhou Industrial Park Regulatory Commission told a reporter from the Dongfang Daily.

Catcher Technology makes a number of parts for Apple and other tech companies, and their metal plates can be found in you Macbook Airs or HTC smartphones, for example. However, Catcher has other factories and most of them remain operating as usual. Still, the company’s stock — they are listed in Taiwan (TPE:2474) — took a dive on news of the Suzhou plant’s closing, dropping 6.9%.

The company expects to see a reduction of 40% in its output for November, which puts in perspective just how important the Kesheng factory was to them. It’s not clear yet whether the closure will also impact the availability of Apple products, but it certainly can’t help.

The previously-mentioned CCTV expose had also named several other Apple suppliers as polluters, and an earlier report from Chinese environmental groups also fingered two factories in Kunshan, near Shanghai, as potentially causing increased rates of cancer among the local populace (who were leaving in droves due to bizarre liquids, strange smells, and the concerningly high cancer rates).

Apple does not publicly list suppliers in China, but it has been frequently connected with companies accused of having lax environmental and safety standards. Many of these suppliers also supply other high-end tech companies.

[Dongfang Daily via Sina Tech]