While China’s COVID-19 infection rates have declined and business begins to return to some level of normalcy there, outbreaks in Italy and elsewhere continue to stoke fears of global supply chain hiccups.
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Chris Williamson, chief business economist at IHS Markit, notes that both supply and demand are likely to be affected by coronavirus-related fears.
IHS Markit’s March 2 edition of the Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index showed that “the backlog of orders moved to its highest level since April 2019—perhaps suggesting that companies are starting to deal with shortages of inputs,” says Richard Branch, chief economist at Dodge Data & Analytics.
由于该国的病毒遏制努力，许多中国制造设施坐在2月或更长时间的闲置。然而，对施工供应链的完全影响几个月不会变得清晰，因为“大多数项目通常在地面处于破裂之前良好提供供应，”分支说。新利18备用网址
Some firms already are reporting delays. Dan Kaufman, regional president with JE Dunn Construction in Atlanta, says that an electrical subcontractor on one project estimates a two-month delay on materials procured from China. “It’s an immediate critical path impact of up to eight weeks on a job, which is obviously paralyzing, and we’ve got to figure a way around that,” he says.
Wisconsin solar plants fear project delays due to late shipments of components, while Georgia contractors say respirator masks are in short supply.
Christa Myers, pharmaceutical market director at CRB, says at least one project is being affected due to travel restrictions to Italy, a hotbed for manufacturing of pharmaceutical equipment. Testing and approvals for equipment on a project in the U.S. have been delayed, and staff that had recently traveled to Italy are now grounded. In fact, Myers is working from home for 14 days out of an abundance of caution after returning from Italy’s most impacted region.
In China and Hong Kong, people returning to work have also been delayed by quarantines, says Michael Kavanagh, managing director of S&techs, a Hong Kong-based affiliate of Structure Tone. In addition, building permits in Hong Kong and elsewhere have been delayed due to lack of staff to handle requests, he adds.
在亚洲的其他地方，路透社报道称，印度尼西亚的60亿美元的雅加达 - 万隆高速铁路线正在延迟大约300个高级工人，并提供管道和防水等关键材料的短缺。在孟加拉国，35亿美元，3.8英里的道路和铁路桥，横跨帕米河，只有三分之二的中国劳动力。
“不幸的是，经济数据并没有随着与Covid-19病毒所涉及的快速变化的新闻，”分店说。“迄今为止的数据将密切关注由于病毒因病毒而恶化的迹象。但是，这是美国上年前半年的国内生产总值增长的非常强烈的可能性。“
By Scott Blair, Alisa Zevin, Debra K. Rubin, Scott Judy and Jim Parsons
