Unibody chassis plant goes back online by end of October

Catcher Technology, the maker of the unibody aluminum chassis for Apple’s MacBook notebooks and iMac computers, will be back to full capacity by the month’s end, Reuters reported Wednesday:

Catcher Technology, a casing supplier for Apple Inc., said on Wednesday its China plant will be fully reopened at end of this month. Catcher said earlier in October that a partial production halt at the factory, ordered by Chinese authorities after complaints about pollution, would affect October sales by 20 percent.

Catcher made the news about ten days ago when China’s regulators ordered the company to shut down part of its facility in the eastern city of Suzhou, following complaints about “strange odors” spreading out from the plant. The company produces an estimated 60 percent of enclosures for Apple’s iMac desktop and MacBook Pro and Air notebooks. Following the plant closure, Catcher went to brace for up to 40 percent manufacturing decline, prompting serious concerns about future availability of Apple’s Mac lineup.

Prospects of such an outcome have been troubling watchers in the light of 4.9 million Mac shipments during the September quarter, filed as Apple’s best quarter ever for Mac sales. Apple CEO Tim Cook addressed those concerns in a recent conference call with Wall Street analysts, saying Apple was “investigating and assessing the situation”.

Pegatron, another key Apple supplier commissioned with producing both iPhone 4S and iPad 3 alongside Foxconn, is having problems of its own as China’s recent environmental report called them out on excessive pollution in its three component subsidiaries that assemble Apple gear.