Swiss industry group worried about global supply chain issues

Despite high demand, the machinery, electrical engineering and metal (MEM) sector is still hampered by disruption to global supply chains, says a top sector representative.

This content was published on April 23, 2022 - 16:02 April 23, 2022 - 16:02

Martin Hirzel, the president of the Swissmem industry association, told SRF public radio on Saturday that an imminent improvement on global markets was “not even wishful thinking anymore”.

The disruption caused by the pandemic, then the war in Ukraine, has thrown supply chains “completely out of step”, Hirzel said. The 1,300 businesses in his association have plenty of orders pending, and demand is high, but they often just can’t make deliveries.

The current lockdown in Shanghai will cause more problems, he added: due to strict Covid measures in place, exports going through the Chinese city over the coming weeks will be impacted, which will again disrupt global flows.

China has grown in importance as a destination for Swiss industrial exports since a free trade deal between the two countries in 2014. China now accounts for 7% of all Swiss MEM exports, and was a key market in helping the industry bounce back after the first wave of the pandemic.

https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/swiss-industry-group-worried-about-world-supply-chain-issues/47539202