Nokian suspends international travel due to Covid-19

Nokian Tyres’ supply chain is unaffected, but the company has activated its “global Business Continuity Program” and is carefully reviewing advice in light of the Covid-19 epidemic. According to Nokian Head of Global Security Jukka Rikkinen, one specific change is that Nokian has “temporarily suspended international business travel.”

Rikkinen explained: “Since the beginning of the outbreak in China, we have activated our global Business Continuity Program and taken all actions within our control to ensure employee safety and customer delivery. Strategic resiliency is the strength of Nokian Tyres’ delivery network. We have taken extra precautions to ensure deliveries to our customers and prohibited visits in our factory locations.”

In addition, the company has issued self-quarantine rules to staff and associates traveling internationally in high outbreak areas. “We have requested our personnel to also reconsider all traveling and to work from home for two weeks if having travelled in countries that are listed as outbreak areas or potential outbreak areas. All travellers, business or leisure, are expected to contact their superior as well as the occupational health care before they return to their posts in the office”, Rikkinen continued, adding:

“Currently, Nokian Tyres’ raw material supply chain is not impacted by the corona outbreak. We have taken extra risk management measures to mitigate the risk in the supply chain. So far, all our raw materials suppliers operate as normal. However, we do expect delays in transportations due to the blank sailings, but we do have safety stocks that cover the delays, so they do not put our production at risk. We also have back-up suppliers. We follow the situation actively and update the status as it develops.

“To ensure we are able to deliver the products and services to our customers, Nokian Tyres and Vianor are working continuously on site-specific contingency plans for scenarios including temporary office closures or additional travel restrictions.”