Market update – China & Covid outbreaks

Being a global manufacturing giant, if there’s big disruption faced in China, it will inevitably have an impact on global supply chains.

With most countries moving away from Covid restrictions and learning to live with the virus, China’s zero-covid policy is now being put to the test for the first major time since the outbreak in Wuhan back in 2020. With Omicron spreading like wildfire throughout the country, large parts of the country are now being put into lockdowns. At time of writing around 50 million people have been ordered to stay at home; this in the face of cases continuing to rise across the country.

So what does this all mean to us here in the UK? As with the pandemic, disruption in China is felt across global supply chains. If lockdowns hit areas of with high manufacturing output, or ports, then the disruption could be substantial.

It’s certainly a situation to be monitored, particularly where areas linked with shipping and manufacturing could become affected. The impacts felt, therefore, would likely mean a further hit for supply chains.