About 90 per cent of the world's vaping hardware is produced in Shenzhen. With Chinese factories hit by coronavirus, Australian stockpiles of replaceable coils and pods are rapidly dwindling.

Retailers and distributors have told Hack they're down to the last few weeks of supplies for some products, and others have already run out.

"I can't get stock," Jay Karanouh from House of Vape, a large Sydney retailer, said.

There are some products that are completely sold out.

Distributors say the same. Chris Monchgesang, the chief operating officer for Vape Traders, a major distributor, said supplies of high turnover stock should last for another month, but Shenzhen vape factories may not resume shipping for six weeks.

"We're feeling the pinch on our more popular devices," he said.

"It hasn't been the most enjoyable time."

In many parts of China, businesses were scheduled to resume work on February 10, after the annual 15-day public holiday for the Lunar New Year.

But coronavirus has meant some factories are struggling to get up to speed.

Since the holiday, local governments began sealing off villages and mandating 14-day quarantines for anyone who travels, meaning many of China's 300 million migrant workers cannot return to work. Even if they did, apartments are reportedly keeping out recent travelers.

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Whatsapp Workers make pods for e-cigarettes on a production line in Shenzhen in September 24, 2019.

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Whatsapp A notice at a border check point between Hong Kong and Shenzhen on February 6.

The vape shortage is just one example of what's been described as the 'second wave' of economic chaos of the coronavirus outbreak.

The first hit airports, tourism operators and universities. The second is disrupting business supply chains — exposing how vulnerable global networks of trade are to disruption.

A virus jumping from bat to human has the potential to derail the global economy.

More specifically, it could lead to a lot of grumpy, nicotine-starved vapers in Australia (e-cigarettes containing nicotine are banned, though popular and easy to obtain online).

"It all depends whether or not coronavirus starts to peter out or continues on," Chris Monchgesang said.

"Importing from US and UK markets, which have much larger stockpiles of hardware, is the last go-to option."

"But they're running low and at some point they're going to run out."

A US wholesale vape supplier has told customers it's expecting "a major national shortage on coils and hardware" from late February to early April.

'Coils and pods worst affected'

Vape devices heat a small amount of flavoured liquid into a vapour.

The two most perishable components are the vape juice itself, and the heating element or coil, which users replace every week or fortnight.

Most vape juice is made in the US and therefore its supply is unaffected by coronavirus.

However, vape coils and pods are running out quickly, Chris said.

The impact of the outbreak was made worse by coinciding with the Chinese New Year public holiday when production shuts down and stockpiles are depleted.

Even if Shenzhen factories get up to full speed soon, production could remain sluggish, Chris said.

"Shenzhen is an end product place where everything is put together," he said.

"A lot of the component parts are made throughout China in the industrial areas."

"There might not be component parts coming through."

It could still slow down supply and production and getting back to factories for quite a while.

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Whatsapp A health worker checks the temperature of women entering the subway on January 26 in Beijing.

'Companies will start folding'

The coronavirus caps six months of hardship for the Australian vaping industry. In September, after a sixth person in the US died of a vaping-related illness, President Trump announced he was considering a ban on all flavoured vape juices.

In January, that ban came into effect, though excluding menthol and tobacco flavours.

Chris says the US news saw a downturn in Australia.

"The past six months has been the biggest challenge to the industry," he said.

Independent distributors and retailers have been working together to help each other through the supply crunch. To avoid one party buying up all the remaining stock of a product, they've introduced a system to allocate supplies evenly.

"I know a lot of those people on a first-name basis. I visit them at their homes," Chris said.

"We're trying to keep all the industry, including vape stores, moving along in this difficult period."

Jay Karanouh from House of Vape, who also operates multiple shops in Australia and New Zealand, as well as an online store, told Hack he was anticipating the worst.

"A lot of companies will start folding," he said.

"All we hear is it might get worse."