Building products manufacturer Brickworks has been forced to close five of its plants in the US state of Pennsylvania, after the state's governor ordered all non life-sustaining businesses to close their physical operations to curb the spread of coronavirus. "This means five of our 12 plants currently in operation will close. This includes our plants at Harmer, Bigler, Hanley, York and Mid Atlantic will close. Our remaining seven plants will remain in operation," Brickworks told the ASX. Closer to home the company has responded cautiously to the coronavirus itself, with Brickworks boss Lindsay Partridge telling The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald last week that the firm would delay the letting of major contracts for a new $125 million brick plant in western Sydney by three months because of the uncertainty created by the coronavirus.