Credit Suisse analysts says that the Tianjin port explosions that took more than 100 lives could incur insurance losses from $1 billion to $1.5 billion in total. They said to have based the figures as reported by media outlets in China. Last August 12, huge explosions rocked the port of Tianjin which sent shockwaves several kilometers in radius. The industrial sector of the port was heavily damaged and many people were injured as well, this according to a report in todayonline.com.
Zurich Insurance Group AG and Alliance SE reported they have received claims from clients who were affected by the blast. They declined to guess how much the total losses would be as there were also Chinese insurance companies involved.
However, there were big companies who were operating in the area like Hyundai Motor Co. whose representative reported they had 4,000 units of their vehicles in the blast area. They estimated their loss at $136 million. Renault, another car maker also said the accident would severely limit their production and deliveries for August and September. This was included in the same post in todayonline.com.
Analyst Arjan van Veen was quoted in a post in cnbc.com saying "It is still very early to determine the level of insured losses, but the event is likely to be large with initial insured loss estimates of $1-$1.5 billion and a large number of insurance companies affected." He compiled estimates from a range of Chinese media reports.
Authorities have restricted access to the affected area of the blast and this has made life difficult for companies operating in that area who want assess how much they've been hit. In the same post in cnbc.com, carmakers estimate the number of cars lost to balloon to 10,000 or even higher once they are allowed in the blast site. Tianjin is the third biggest port for imported cars and it handled about 40% of the volume in 2014 alone.
