Otago-Southland Employers Association chief executive John Scandrett yesterday said it was clear that many of the larger central Christchurch retailers had yet to reopen and there were Otago and Southland manufacturers who relied to varying degrees on the operating status of those customers.
"We need to recognise too, that the closure of a number of the Christchurch supermarkets has served to shrink market opportunities for our local food suppliers.
"Opinion on this issue tends to support the fact that this downturn will be temporary in nature."
Overall, the impact of the earthquake on regional businesses had varied, he said.
Association members talked to yesterday by Mr Scandrett and staff confirmed that in the immediate aftermath of the earthquake, they were required to deal with wide-ranging negative experiences around disrupted deliveries.
But they also said those problems had now been largely rectified.
Comments supported the fact that local companies were holding good stocks of raw materials and did not expect to encounter short or intermediate-term delivery problems, he said"Not surprisingly, when raising the supply-line queries with our members, return comment has swung back around the market damage impact seen in Christchurch."
Cadbury Confectionery reported its Christchurch operations had been "totally disrupted" as its office was within the four avenues.
Cadbury was moving some operations to Hornby.
Freight seemed to be coming back online and while Dunedin was operating, it might take some time before the Cadbury Christchurch distribution operation was back running fully, Mr Scandrett said.
WHK partner Scott Mason said some of the accountancy firm's retail clients were struggling to get supplies because Christchurch was a major distribution hub.
Auckland suppliers were not supplying Dunedin retailers directly, and that was not just with food products but a wide range of goods.
"It highlights the issue for Dunedin, Invercargill and Central Otago that Christchurch is a sole hub with a `just in time' approach.
It will be interesting to see if there is a structure change in the future [as a result]."
Mr Mason had already approached Inland Revenue on behalf of clients seeking help in dealing with the aftermath of the earthquake but warned that there would be consequences "down the track" with banks and creditors.
"People in Otago and Southland have to be realistic about the consequences of the earthquake on their businesses and need to be proactive in their approach."
Business owners had to face the prospect of some contracts being cancelled, supplies not arriving or orders drying up, he said.
After the earthquake in September, Christchurch was slowly moving towards a rebuilding phase.
While people expected the rebuilding to start the day after, it had taken six months.
That work had to restart after the February earthquake and it would take at least six months before there was much progress, Mr Mason said.
The problem around rebuilding was that a lot of it could happen quickly outside of the CBD but developers now had the problem of funding the development and insuring it.
Forming a property syndicate to fund a development in Christchurch could also be a problem if investors were worried about insurance, he said.
"We were just at the cusp of positive thinking - businesses were starting have contracts in place. If contracts are in place, I think people will start looking for a way out by late next week. Contracts will be examined very closely," he said.
