Reopening opens new challenge,news by Hebei Longsheng
| The impact of COVID-19 continues to be felt across industrial sectors even as most economies are starting to reopen. The Bangladeshi apparel industry has been particularly hard hit as a result of cancelled orders from across the U.S. and Europe. The automotive industry's complex supply chains are also a challenge. Navistar, the subject of our report of the week, has indicated that it has kept factories open, though shipments of parts have fallen. The outlook isn't much better with vehicle carrier Grimaldi having identified that forecasts of a recovery "in the fall are optimistic". As if COVID-19 wasn't complicated enough, the U.S. government also published the "uniform regulations" for implementing USMCA from July 1. The autos industry is particularly exposed - we identified companies that need to review their steel supply chains. Looking at the impact of COVID-19 so far, our review of May's preliminary U.S. import data shows shipments fell by a fifth as a result of lower demand and industrial closures. The consumer goods sector and specifically apparel was particularly hard hit while shipments from India fell fastest. China's macro trade data meanwhile showed a return to contraction in May with exports down by 3.3% year over year after global demand declined. The earlier cost of COVID-19 could also be seen in trade activity across Asia has seen an accelerating downturn with a 9.9% drop in April compared to a year earlier. By Hebei Longsheng Metals & Minerals Co,. Ltd. |
