Fresh Covid-19 Outbreak in Asia Disrupts Trade, says an article on Wall Street Journal.
A fresh wave of Covid-19 clusters in Asia
As Western economies roar back to life, a fresh wave of Covid-19 clusters in Asia—where vaccination campaigns remain in their early stages—is creating new bottlenecks in the global supply chain, threatening to push up prices and weigh on the post-pandemic recovery.
An outbreak at one of the world’s busiest ports in southern China has led to global shipping delays, while infections at key points in the semiconductor supply chain in Taiwan and Malaysia are worsening a global chip shortage that has hindered production in the auto and technology industries.
The new outbreaks at key facilities have led to inflation concerns after China and the US recorded their biggest annual increases in factory-gate and consumer prices last week in more than a decade. If problems worsen or continue, experts worry that there could be adverse effects on global growth. The aforementioned low vaccination rates keep in place social distancing rules and travel bans in Asia while the West begins to open back up and increase economic activity. The lockdowns disrupt manufacturing and suppress consumer spending in Asia.
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Source: Wall Street Journal
