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A potential trend may be more local chemical suppliers to meet local demand

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zhanzhan

With the spread of the coronavirus pandemic and the blockade restricting industrial activity and consumer demand, chemical trade has shrunk this year.

Trade is vital to the industry, which has enjoyed a strong trade balance for many years. Chemicals have benefited immensely from globalization and extensive tariff cuts.

A key question is how the epidemic will affect trade in the longer term.

Through the blockade, local production and local supply are crucial. Manufacturers strive to supply and cooperate with customers as much as possible, but the long trade routes are under special pressure.

A potential trend may be more local chemical suppliers to meet local demand, although it remains to be seen how to achieve this goal in assets such as chemicals and investment in heavy industries.

For many years, large companies have been seeking to produce in larger and more efficient production centers, which are strategically located to serve the increasingly global market.

EU producers, large and small, have not only gained growth from developed markets such as the United States, but also from emerging economies.

Emerging countries, key
Before the pandemic, future demand growth is closely related to the health of the developing economies, and Africa is regarded as the time for growth.

As the EU continues its tense trade talks with China, it is easy to draw attention to the changes in the fortunes of the world's economic giants and the relationship between the 27-nation group and them.

However, taking into account the rapidly developing market, the EU and Vietnam this year finalized a landmark trade agreement, which has received strong support from the chemical industry.

The EU calls it the most comprehensive trade agreement between the EU and developing countries; it gives Vietnam 10 years to abolish tariffs on EU imports, even though chemicals and medicines are among the duty-free products that Vietnam has already imported.

The EU stated that both parties have firm commitments to environmental and social rights-a potential fuse in the current EU-China negotiations.

Vietnam has done a good job in controlling the new crown pneumonia epidemic, but the country's economy has suffered a severe blow.

World Bank (World Bank) data show that the country's economy continued to grow at a rate of 0.4% in the second quarter, which the World Bank said was abnormal during the epidemic. But this is still the worst performance in the past 35 years.

Vietnam is vulnerable to the new wave of coronavirus outbreak and may fall into the economic trap of Covid-19.

This trap may seem unclear, but it may mean that the demand for chemicals and their products — or products that Vietnamese companies may produce with these products — will be affected, and it may be severe.

Pandemic hinders progress
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation reviewed the health and welfare aspects of the Covid-19 crisis in its Global Goals report released on Monday.

In terms of vaccine coverage, it is considered a good representative of how the health system works, and it shows that we are going backwards 25 years in 25 weeks.

The report said: “One of the most important issues facing the world is how quickly low-income countries can return to their original levels and start to make progress again.”

"The hardest hit countries will need support to ensure that what was supposed to be a temporary reversal will not become permanent."

The point is that the health crisis has caused an extremely serious economic crisis, and the poorer countries in the world-not just the poorest countries-will fight this crisis for many years.

These forecasts are deeply worrying. This crisis has plunged millions of people into extreme poverty. The health care systems of poorer economies are under extreme pressure.

Sub-Saharan Africa is the lowest-income region in the world, but it is also the fastest-growing region in each country. Most countries cannot borrow the funds they need to minimize the damage caused by the epidemic.

Moreover, as the report says, the government's investment in social security is capped.

The report added: "The University of Washington Institute of Health Indicators and Evaluation estimates that extreme poverty has increased by 7% in just a few months due to Covid-19, ending 20 years of continuous progress."

By 2020, the epidemic has pushed nearly 37 million people below the extreme poverty line of US$1.9 a day. The poverty line in low- and middle-income countries is US$3.2 a day, and 68 million people have fallen below this level since last year. "

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