Title: COVID-19: A Look At How A Pandemic Can Affect An Economy - The One Brief
Headings: COVID-19: A Look At How A Pandemic Can Affect An Economy
Capital & Economics
COVID-19: A Look At How A Pandemic Can Affect An Economy
OVERVIEW
IN DEPTH
Impacts On Shipping And Supply Chains
Travel And Hospitality Take A Hit
Other Potential Impacts
When The Recovery Comes

Content: Impacts On Shipping And Supply Chains
Shipping accounts for 90 percent of global trade ,* according to Chris Bhatt, global marine sales director at Aon. Meanwhile, many businesses around the world have moved to just-in-time supply chains. Many companies, however, haven’t taken prudent steps to trace their supply chains to the very beginning. Often, companies have outsourced the production of parts and components to suppliers elsewhere in the world, unaware that those suppliers outsource too. Now, with many ports imposing 14-day quarantines for vessels originating in or transitioning through China – and with seven of the world’s busiest container shipping ports in China – those supply chains are being disrupted, Bhatt says. “Production is being disrupted because parts shipped from China to be assembled in the West are not arriving,” says Bhatt. “ Car companies, for example, are slowing down production because they’re not receiving parts.” “This could be the first time we’ve seen supply chains disrupted by a global pandemic to this extent,” Bhatt says. China’s growing role in the global economy has contributed to that impact. While the SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) outbreak of 2002–03 was significant, China represented only about 7 percent of global manufacturing at the time.