PRODUCERS of metals, chemicals and other industrial goods are shutting factories or curbing output in China’s southwestern Sichuan Province after it rationed power consumption to ensure sufficient supply to residents.

Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. (CATL), the world’s biggest battery maker, and Toyota Motor Corp. have shut down their factories in Sichuan as the impact of a drought-induced power crisis in the province spreads.

Toyota closed a plant in the provincial capital of Chengdu and will keep operations suspended until Aug. 20, a company spokesperson said. CATL halted operations at its major lithium battery base in Yibin through the same date, a local business publication reported.

Apple supplier BOE Technology Group Co. will “make adjustments” at its operations in Sichuan due to power rationing in the region, it said Tuesday. The company said that it was communicating with authorities and expected “no major impact on its overall operating performance.” It added that it has four production lines making displays for hardware devices in the region — two lines producing LCD screens and two producing AMOLED screens.

Chemical producer Sichuan Xinjinlu and mining company Sichuan Hongda Co. also announced certain units in the region would halt production.

Sichuan, one of China’s most populous provinces, relies on dams to generate more than 80% of its electricity. Soaring temperatures and little rain this summer have reduced hydropower generation in the province of 83.75 million, leading to power rationing for industrial users since late July. The province’s worst heatwave in 60 years is also leading to soaring power demand, said the Sichuan Daily newspaper.

Sichuan is a key manufacturing hub and also important for the production of materials including polysilicon and lithium that are vital to the energy transition.

Industrial users across 19 out of 21 cities in the province were ordered to suspend production from Aug. 15 until Aug. 20 to prioritize residential power supply, according to a notice issued Sunday by the Department of Economy and Information Technology of Sichuan.

An official at the department confirmed Monday it had implemented power rationing but declined to discuss details.

Volkswagen AG said Monday that its factory in Chengdu is affected by power shortages, but it was only expecting slight delays in deliveries to customers. Foxconn Technology Co. also makes Apple iPads in the province, but said it was seeing only limited impact from the drought so far.

“The power control is very strict,” said a source at a major ferro-alloy firm in Sichuan, which has cut its daily output to 150 tons from Monday from a normal rate of 400 tons. (SD-Agencies)