- Covid-19
- Data Bridge Market Research
- Coverage
- Solution
- Careers
The outbreak of coronavirus highlights the need of rapid and effective test method in order to detect and identify the target virus.WHO has validated two types of test for detection of COVID 19 one is molecular diagnostic test and other one is immunological assay test. But as molecular diagnostic test such as PCR among others cannot be used for monitoring of disease progressing stage, there is a great need of immunological assays.The development of rapid test method such as immunoassay among others has become an urgent need for effective drug and vaccine development so as to curtail the spread of COVID 19.Price Impact:The need of immunoassay kit for reliable COVID 19 test led the country’s government to reduce the price of these tests, so that individual belonging to any economic status can afford such tests.Moreover some of the immunoassay kits were imported from different regions of the world, however due to ban and lockdown across borders import of testing kits also stopped. Along with this, the manufacturing of immunoassay kits in the country itself has also caused price reduction.Immunoassay tests in order to recognize the viral antigen and related immunoglobulin are free at government laboratories, which again caused price reduction of kits.For instance:The charges fixed by ICMR at private labs for immunoassay test is USD (Indian Rupees 4,500).Thus, it signifies that due to COVID 19 pandemic, the price of immunoassays kits and related products will reduce but product sales will increase.Impact on DemandThis has been reported that RT-PCR based viral RNA detection test are widely used for diagnosis of COVID-19, however in order to monitor the progress of disease and identification of different stages there is a great need of immunological assays.The results provided by immunological tests have an important role in vaccine development, which again increases the demand of immunoassay test.Lateral flow immunoassay is one of the rapid diagnostic tests used for detection of viral antigens within 10-30 minutes. Moreover this is an inexpensive test and does not require any trained personnel for performing the test. All such factors again enhance the demand of immunoassay tests.ELISA test can also be used for detection of viral components. ELISA is compatible with various kinds of samples that increase its demand for COVID 19 test. Moreover it is suitable for point of care detection.Luminescent immunoassay has been reported in excessive use for COVID 19 diagnosis and manufacturers are also taking steps in order to fulfill such increasing demand.For instance,Cai et al. have developed peptide- based magnetic chemiluminescence enzyme immunoassay for detection of COVID -19Moreover increasing prevalence of COVID-19 all around the world is also responsible for increasing demand of immunoassay kits.Figure1: Number of Laboratory Confirmed COVID-19 CasesSource: WHOAll these factors suggest that COVID 19 outbreak has enhanced the demand of immunoassay market.Impact on Supply Chain:Due to continuous COVID-19 outbreak, several restrictions have been imposed by government bodies of several countries which involves ban throughout the country’s borders among others. These restrictions led to shortage of in the supply of immunoassay kits.While such lockdown Indian government has allowed import of certain immunoassay kits used for detection of coronavirus. As per the report published in May, 2020 Abbott Healthcare and Roche Diagnostics received approval for import of immunoassay kits. This approval involves the import of chemiluminescent immunoassay kits. This step by Indian government helped to maintain a continuous supply chain amidst the COVID-19 outbreak.The Asian Development Bank in March 2020, decided to provide with USD 200 million for companies who are engaged in manufacturing of coronavirus related products involving immunoassay kits. This step by organization helps the company to ensure continuous supply chain of their products.This signifies that even during the COVID-19 pandemic companies are able to maintain supply chain.Strategic Initiatives by Manufacturers and Organizations:Due to increasing demand of immunoassay kits across the world, the market players are launching various types of immunoassay kits.For instance,In May 2020, National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune has developed ELISA (an immunoassay test) for detection of coronavirus related antibodies in blood samplesIn April 2020, Bio-Rad announced about the launch of blood based immunoassay kit for the detection and identification of antibodies formed against SARS-CoV-2, a virus that has been reported to cause COVID-19. The company has also planned to get emergency authorization from FDA for product launchRoche is providing Elecsys Anti SARS CoV 2, an immunoassay used for detection of antibodies against SARS-CoV-2. The samples needed for testing antibodies involves human serum, and plasmaIn April 2020, ERBA Mannheim launched ErbaLisa COVID-19 ELISA kits for the detection of IgG and IgM antibodies formed against SARS- CoV-2. This immunoassay can be manually operated led to its enhanced usageIn March 2020, BioMedomics, Inc., launched one of the point of care rapid immunoassay test for diagnosis of coronavirus infection. This test provides qualitative detection of IgG and IgM antibodies in human whole blood, serum and plasma. This test has initially been used by Chinese CDC but now it is available globallyThis signifies that several strategic initiatives by different manufacturers in order to fight against novel coronavirus, fuel up the market growth.Presence of large number of Immunoassay kits are helping the doctors and scientist to get an optimal solution as per their need, which again led to increasing growth of the marketTABLE 1. DIFFERENT TYPES OF IMMUNOLOGICAL TESTS USED FOR DETECTION OF VIRAL ANTIBODIES FORMED AGAINST SARS- CoV-2 VIRUSTest NameTest TypeManufacturerSample SourcesTest Result Timem2000 SARS-CoV-2 assaychemiluminescent microparticle immunoassayAbbott Core Laboratoryserum/plasma/whole bloodruns up to 100-200 tests/hCOVID-19 IgG/IgM LFlateral flow immunoassayAdvagen Biotechserum/plasma/whole bloodresults in 10 minCOVID-19 IgM/IgG rapid testlateral flow immunoassayBioMedomicsserum/plasma/whole bloodresults in 15 minOne-Step COVID-2019 testlateral flow immunoassayCeler Biotechnologiaserum/plasma/whole bloodresults in 15 minqSARS-CoV-2 IgG/IgM rapid testlateral flow immunoassayCellex Inc.serum/plasma/whole bloodresults in 15-20 minDEIASL019/020 SARS-CoV-2 IgG ELISA kitELISACreative Diagnosticsserum/plasmaOnSite COVID-19 IgG/IgM rapid testlateral flow immunoassayCTK Biotech Inc. (USA)serum/plasma/whole bloodresults in 10 minSource: NCBIAs per the data provided in table large number of products available in order to perform immunoassays, this paves the way for manufacturers to earn more product sales, which again boost up the market growth.Regulations:Amid the COVID -19 outbreaks, various regulations associated with immunoassay test kit launch has been relaxed by FDA and other regulatory bodies due to increasing demand of rapid test for coronavirus detection.FDA is aware of that several manufacturers are developing immunoassay test for coronavirus with an aim of submission of Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) to FDA. As the need of such test increasing, FDA is not intended for reasonable specimen testing, which consumes a lot of time.FDA offers 15 business days to manufacturer for preparation of EUA submission for an immunoassay test whose performance has already been validated by the manufacturer.With the urging need of worldwide population FDA has engaged with more than 100 of test developing manufacturer since the end of January and has granted EUA to several of immunoassay manufacturers.During this pandemic FDA ensures that these test kits distribute to every labs, hospital land to other facilities which are in need of it.Moreover FDA is working 24*7 in order to support laboratories and test developers, so that the manufacturers can distribute immunoassay test kits throughout the several countries at this urgent time.In April, European Commission has issued a directive related to medical devices used for coronavirus testing. According to the directive launched in April if an assay meets all the requirements mentioned in directive launched by European Commission then there is no need for manufacturer to get a CE mark for that assay.In Asia-Pacific region, after the initial outbreak of COVID 19 South Korea’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention coordinated with the manufacturers engaged in getting approval for assay used for COVID 19 testing. Moreover in China, Singapore and Australia regulatory guidelines have been adjusted in order to get early approval and emergency use authorization for assays.As strict regulations have been relaxed by regulatory authorities for immunoassay test kits during the COVID-19 pandemic, thus signifies that coronavirus has paved the way for the growth of immunoassay market.Conclusion:The pandemic of COVID 19 has led to an urgent need for the detection of coronavirus to progress the disease stage and to develop a novel vaccine, which can be possible by using immunoassay kits that provides rapid detection of antibodies formed against coronavirus. This led to the increasing demand for immunoassay kits and enhanced the growth of the immunoassay market. Various types of bans resulted in a shortage of product supplies that are expected to hamper the market growth, however, initiatives taken by the government related to product import and investment by some authorities helped the manufacturers to maintain the supply chain of immunoassay products. Increasing the prevalence of COVID-19 and the availability of immunoassay products is also expected to fuel up the market growth. Moreover, support by regulatory authorities related to approval and emergency use authorization for immunoassay products helping the market players to achieve a lucrative growth.
The novel coronavirus has significantly impacted all industries which include food and beverages, automotive, chemical and many others. This pandemic has resulted into mass production shutdowns and supply chain disruptions which has affected the economy of almost every country in the world.During the first quarter of 2020, coronavirus spread took place globally due to which the countries underwent lockdown. Initially, the lockdown has disrupted product supply chain and also raw material collection issues. Manufacturing facilities also made shut as coronavirus spread among labors were increasing highly.Among all the industries which are being impacted, dietary supplements industry is also one of them. In start of COVID-19 spread, it was difficult for the companies to supply their product in market for the consumption purpose and also production of dietary products faced disruption in the supply chain completely. The consumers were only focusing on highly essential products such as food and beverages. As the time passes by, the companies started reopening to fulfil the demand of products in the market.In research, it has been found that dietary supplements are helpful in boosting the immune system. Due to this new trend, the demand for the dietary supplements has been increased highly. For instance, according to Healtheuropa, dietary supplements containing micronutrients and vitamins C and D are safe, have low-cost, and are an effective way of helping the immune system fight off COVID-19 from other acute respiratory tract diseases. Due to this, the demand for the dietary supplements has increased in the marketAccording to the article published by Nutrition Outlook, dietary supplements sales is increasing during coronavirus pandemic as the dietary supplements are helpful in combating or it enhances the immune system against COVID-19. According to the article, during last week of March 2020, the sales growth for overall dietary supplements skyrocketed to more than 35.0% in the United States.Another fact, according to Glanbia Plc., dietary supplements purchase in retail outlets has increased during the month of April 2020.Table 1 Retail Outlets used by Consumers for the Products in the Month of April 2020Product1st Week of Survey2nd Week of SurveyVitamin & Mineral SupplementsSupercenter (31%)Supercenter (36%)Protein/Energy BarsTraditional Supermarket (34%)Traditional Supermarket (44%)Source: Glanbia PlcThe demand for dietary supplements is increasing to immunize the body, on the other hand, due to lockdown, gym facilities and others are shut. This has lead the less demand for dietary supplements such as whey protein powders which is widely popular among bodybuilders, athletes, and others who need additional protein in their diet. Once the gym and physical practices center would be open, again the demand for dietary supplements will increase.At this period of time, everyone is susceptible for becoming a carrier of COVID-19, but it is especially affecting those who have low immune systems. Health organizations across the world are reporting the best practices to limit transmission and advising citizens on ways to enhance their immune system. These suggestions include getting a good night sleep, maintaining a healthy diet, exercising moderately, and taking nutritional supplements.Due to the high awareness regarding boosting the immune system, consumers are now more focused towards the consumption of dietary supplements which has lead in increase in the sales of the dietary supplements marketDIETARY SUPPLEMENTS MANUFACTURERS: PERSPECTIVE & INITIATIVESThe outbreak of COVID-19 has brought the world to a halt where each and every industry has got an impact of it. This crisis has brought to an unexpected situation through which everyone is going on. With such unscrupulous situation, everyone is trying to get over of it. However, dietary supplements industry has shown a significant growth in their demand due to their nutritional benefits and recommendations by the healthcare authorities to incorporate in day-to-day life.The support of government to develop ayurvedic and natural supplements to boost the immune system and involvement of the manufacturers for the development of these supplements are helping the industry to establish their strong position in the market.Various studies based on minerals and vitamins have been conducted which claims the vitamins and minerals could fight against the coronavirus.For instance,“India’s national research institute, the Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine (IIIM), will conduct a clinical trial on a zinc supplement that it claims have a higher bioavailability to support recovery in COVID-19 patients, the supplement would be trialed as a nutritional support in COVID-19 patients with mild to moderate symptoms and administered alongside medical interventions.”_ Dr. Ram Vishwakarma, Director of IIIMThe burst of pandemic panic complements a steady rise in dietary supplements sales that investors have largely overlooked amid the financial debacles of better-known vitamins and minerals, fish oil, probiotics, coenzyme q10, garlic, to ashwagandha.For instance,“A possible reason would be that people are willing to adjust their purchase behaviors because of the restrictions placed due to the pandemic. People are avoiding purchasing supplements from POP to be hassle-free and time freed up can be spent on more meaningful activities such as preparing healthy meals, exercising or meditating.”_ Samantha Yew, Co-founder“If you look at functional foods, there is a trend towards increasing nutrient density in foods which are already considered healthy.”“In Vietnam, we see companies trying to fortify milk not only with micronutrients as vitamins, but also thinking what more they can do to fortify the milk not just for immune health, but also to provide other health benefits with the omegas. The fortification can go up to the recommended dietary allowance. In some countries, it is based on the regulation that determines the amount of fortification. We are trying to make sure we stock up our vitamins so that we could meet our customers’ needs which could change quite drastically and quite rapidly as we have learned.”“Especially in Asia, the customers want to come out with new line extensions. Innovation will remain a focus for many customers as they are looking to come out ahead in the marketplace.”_ Anand Sundaresan, DSM’s regional VP Human Nutrition & Health APACWith the demand of the nutritional enriched fortified supplements and functional food, the supply and value chain have been disrupted due to the pandemic.For instance,“Companies were mostly clearing their warehouse stocks, instead of investing in capacity building to meet the heightened demand for plant extracts, especially those that confer immune benefits. Even if the demand is big, the factories are not willing to increase their investments for capacity building. This means that production capacity will not see a significant increase.”“At least 20% to 30% of the orders received across the member companies cannot be filled due to supply chain problems, and so many of us are getting for a slot to ship out our products.”_ Yinjun Hou, the Chairman of Shaanxi Plant Extract Association’s Commerce Department“We’re sure the growth might be even higher, but unfortunately we ran out of stocks for some products, and are moving quickly to replace these stocks. Production of immune-related products has been busier than ever, both with our own brands, as well as our OEM clients. ““It is a product geared towards those who believe in preventative health, and living a long and healthy life,”_ Ross Norris, General Manager at Homart Pharmaceuticals“Huge push” on educating why vitamins were needed for preventive healthcare. This has in turn helped increase sales of vitamins.“In Indonesia, people often take vitamins when they are sick. The vitamin levels of the products sold here also exceed the recommended dietary allowances by 10 to 20 times. Vitamins are viewed as a kind of medicine.”“COVID-19 has led to more recognizing the preventive purpose of vitamins, which is in line with our brand image.”_ CEO Wouter Van Der Kolk, DSG Consumer PartnerSource: Company Websites, Magazines, Nutrition Journals, Portals CONCLUSIONCOVID-19 pandemic has taken a toll on the global population and economy. A collaborative effort on government, public health departments, and hospital fraternity to fight the coronavirus has led to the economic slowdowns, global lockdowns, and extreme public safety measures. The public health measures include creating awareness about home quarantine measuring, maintaining food and healthcare supply, especially to the poor are being strictly followed by government across the world.From a business perspective, COVID-19 is significantly decreasing the commercial activity, particularly in the consumer sector. However, dietary supplements such as vitamins and minerals have been maintaining momentum through the expected recessionary period to come.The increasing demand of dietary supplements can be clearly witnessed by the surge in sales of vitamins and minerals in the U.S. by over 6% during these times. Also, the analysis of social media activity related to VMS use cases clearly reflects this increasing engagement as customers look to boost their overall health and wellness as a precaution against illness.The surge in demand for Vitamin C, curcumin, zinc, selenium and probiotic products have been the major contributors for the growth of dietary supplements industry. Owing to the huge demand, there have been multiple international and local players entering the market with branded as well as generic products. Though, there is a silver lining for the industry, an uncertain supply chain and an economy sputtering into recession can pose to be major threats for the dietary supplements market growth.For ingredient suppliers, manufacturers and retailers, it would be prudent to strategize for a long-term market where consumer demand for dietary supplements continues to grow beyond its historical base.
Since last year, the COVID-19 outbreak took place in Wuhan, China, and then it rapidly spread all across the world. This outbreak is negatively affected global economic growth which is beyond anything experienced in nearly a century. All sectors in the market have experienced its impact from both sides, that is, the supply side and the demand side.The sectors which have experienced COVID-19 impact on the agricultural level are agriculture, food supplies, and animal production sectors. Till April 2020, there was no medicine or vaccine available which has consequently resulted in lockdown and reduction in the production following social distancing measures. Under the agriculture sector, biostimulant which helps in the growth of the plants and is one of the booming products in the market which helps in increasing the crop and food productivity has experienced impact due to the current COVID-19 pandemicThe biostimulant includes all components such as seaweeds, amino acids, and protein hydrolysates, among others. These components are prepared by using certain sources that do not contain chemicals. Due to which the food products which are produced in the agricultural field do not cause health issues after consumption. Due to these major benefits and changes in people’s lifestyle and an increase in health consciousness, it is becoming important in the fertilizer sector. This is found to be an alternative to chemical fertilizers and also farmers are now more inclined towards safe and harmless products. But recently, due to COVID-19 pandemic, supply and demand chain got hit badly and this has led into a reduction in demand for the particular products in the market.PRE COVID-19 IMPACTDuring the start month of 2020, the pandemic has resulted in lockdown mostly all over the world. The lockdown resulted in disruption in the supply and demand chain. The agriculture sector has to suffer from various problems such as labor unavailability, inability to access markets, and lack in the availability of fertilizers, among others.The supply chain includes transportation which was disturbed and hence demands for fertilizers if it was there; it was not fulfilled by the manufacturer. On the other hand, fertilizer manufacturers were facing issues in collecting raw materials. Lack of raw material availability has led the biostimulant manufacturer in reducing the production of fertilizers. Along with this many manufacturing facilities were made shut to maintain the social distancing which decreases the production of fertilizers that includes biostimulants as well.For instance,In February 2020, Eastman Chemical Company which is a fertilizer company has took decision to shut its manufacturing facility based Wuhan, China, the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak.POST COVID-19 IMPACTAs time passed, demand for the products started increasing as food products are essential product hence various manufacturing company started taking decisions in order to provide their product’s in market. Also governing authority has provided permission or unlocked the lockdown which has helped the companies to deliver the product to the famers.For instance,In March 2020, SICIT Group and Syngenta entered into collaboration to promote their product and also focused on more sustainable agriculture. This collaboration was done mainly on focus for collagen based biostimulants which is a booming product in market in fertilizer sector. This in future may help the company to strengthen their footprint in the market.In March 2020, Valagro said that they will keep producing and manufacturing products while keeping health and safety measures in mind for their workers.As such there was no major impact on the fertilizers such as bio stimulant. The pandemic has affected badly during the start of the year 2020, where manufacturers had shut their facilities and also lack in the supply. Further, the facilities were made reopen with strict measures and reopening in the transportation facilities have brought an opportunity for the biostimulant manufacturer to again grow in market. This is because the agricultural commodities are the essential products which are highly in demand around the globe. Biostimulant is playing a major role because it is fulfilling the increasing population’s demand in the marketBIOSTIMULANTS MANUFACTURERS: PERSPECTIVE & INITIATIVESThe outbreak of COVID-19 has brought world to a halt where each and every industry has got an impact of it. This crisis has brought to an unexpected situation through which everyone is going through. With such unscrupulous situation, everyone is trying to get over of it. In all, the product industry has fallen badly due to COVID-19 in start of 2020. But rising support from several companies as well as governments are helping the industry to rebuild the position again in market.Various companies and brands have shown a significant growth in their first quarter revenue considering the COVID-19 as challenging and have stated that the second quarter of the company will be quite challenging in terms of organic growth of revenue and the factor influencing such as currency exchange rate uncertainty, shortage of raw material and their supply chain,For instance,"FMC delivered another quarter of above-market growth, against an industry-leading comparison from last year, which increased up to 7%.”"We effectively navigated the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic during the quarter. Our global operations, supply chain and commercial teams worked diligently to ensure customers had timely access to critical crop protection products through the quarter. Despite forecasting solid organic growth, we believe the second quarter will present the most challenging and uncertain conditions related to COVID-19 and currencies. FX will be a strong headwind at a time of year when price increases are the most difficult to implement,"- Pierre Brondeau, CEO of FMC Corporation.Higher lack in the transportation of the fertilization to the growers is one of the major cause of uncertainty in food production, hence Yara Company have committed to fulfill the need of the fertilization globally and taken initiative to reach their client through specific transportation all over world.“Yara can contribute to increasing food security in vulnerable communities. The Action Africa initiative has many milestones to come and I am convinced that we have only seen the beginning. The total impact of this will go far beyond what we first envisioned.”- Pablo Barrera Lopez, Executive Vice President Strategy & Communications., Yara InternationalThe shortage of the growth promoters and fertilizers have hit hard the agricultural sector, due to the long time lockdown, shortage in supply chain of the raw materials and lack of transportation intrastate and ban of international travels have disrupted the distribution of fertilizers to the farmers.For instance,“Shortage of fertilizers, veterinary medicines and other input has affected agricultural production.”- United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, QU DongyuBroswe Related ReportsGlobal Biostimulants Market is Expected to Grow at 12.5% CAGR in the Forecast Period of 2020 to 2027California Biostimulants Market is Forecasted to Grow at 13.8% in the Forecast Period of 2020 to 2027
INTRODUCTIONMetal and mining industry is one of those industries that have been severely impacted due to the outbreak of coronavirus globally. The prices of steel and other metals have shown different behavior due to demand and supply scenario change. In response to the spread of the virus, some governments have seized the borders and have imposed large scales quarantines and social distancing measures to minimize the spread of the virus any further. The safety and well-being of workers were rightly the top priority of any country, but now companies must consider the economic effects of the pandemic, which are now apparent.To keep the well-being of employees in concern, companies have taken drastic measures such as asking non-operational staff to work from home to scaling back production; even many of the companies have reduced their operations and manufacturing capacities to get less impacted with the global pandemic. Such steps have resulted in reduced productivity and profits of many industries, including metals and mining precipitously. To come back on track, the companies need to make strategic choices for building their cost resilience to prepare themselves for the recovery, as well as even rethink on their new operating modelsSome of the views presented by associations and company professionals are:“Companies are facing restrictions in logistics and transport, trades have been muted, prices of raw materials and steel have slid, which is causing the market’s value to decline”, by China Iron & Steel Association“ We believe the effect of the coronavirus will likely have a short-term negative demand impact in China and to a lesser degree elsewhere,” by ArcelorMittal“We reviewed the situation arising in China due to the virus outbreak in the initial weeks. While we do not depend on China as a market for steel, we do source some of our consumable items from it. We are thus trying alternative supply sources in countries like Turkey and Brazil,” by TV Narendran, chief executive, Tata Steel.IMPACT OF METAL AND MINING INDUSTRYThe outbreak of coronavirus started showing its impact mainly from March of 2020. The average share pricing of metal and mining industry dropped by almost 10% and many standalone companies have lost around 40-50% of their market value. The effect of COVID-19 has changed from moderate in March 2020 to high in April 2020 and is still aggressively increasing. Some of the major players in the mining market such as BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto, and Anglo American have so far reported partial shutdowns and due to this, the industry has almost reported a production loss of more than 30% till now.It has been observed that the price of various commodities such as iron ore, copper, coal and zinc, fell by >5% due to lower-near term demand. The only exception to this trend is gold. The prices of gold have registered an increase in price of around 8% since the beginning of this year.CHANGE IN PRICES OF COMMODITIES FROM 2019 TO 2020COMMODITY NAME% CHANGE IN PRICINGCopper2.67%Lithium44.81%Bitumen27.26%Steel0.67%Coal26.97%Cobalt7.14%Lead9.00%Nickel11.73%Iron Ore0.50%Aluminum9.58%Tin13,38%Zinc17.53%Source: TRADING ECONOMICSThe above mentioned chart clearly states that as compared to last year (2019), the prices of almost all commodities have declined, except a few which have geared up recently.China accounts for more than 20% share in the global supply chain of intermediate products which includes metal and metal products. Thus, the disruption which has been caused due to COVID-19 in China only is expected to repeat on the economy in various countries worldwide. It is expected that the metal industry of European Union will lose over USD 1 thousand million if China exports reduced by even 2%. The steel manufacturer in Europe are cutting production and idling factory lines in which the workers are not working as because of declining orders, a lack of available staff or as a safety precaution against coronavirus. As per the commodity consultant, James Campbell at CRU, “This is going to be a loss making year for the European steel industry.”Due to the downfall in the metal and mineral industry, the other industries that are dependent on supply of ferroalloys and steel, such as automobiles, foundries, have been shutting down across global. As per some of the experts, it is not because of coronavirus spread that metal industry is facing dip in the demand; rather it is the quarantine or the shutdown that is eroding the demand. Ideally there are two aspects of looking into the problem of demand:The quarantineEconomic crash on a medium-term horizonAlong with this, various countries are keeping track of Chinese activities that they did to bring back the industry on track. The Chinese steel consumption from January 2020 to February 2020 increased by almost 5.5%. The production in China grew by 3.1% in March and April. Also, the investment in the fixed assets has increased by 24.5% and the investment in the infrastructure has increased by 30.3%, which is even higher than the decline during the crises of 2008-2009.IMPACT ON IRON OREThe spread of coronavirus has impacted iron ore production and its pricing too. Though compared to 2019, there has been an increase of 0.5% in the pricing but it has faced a dip that no one has expected. The price in 2019 was USD 90.4/tons, and till March in 2020, it averages $83.5/tons. In terms of production, it is expected that iron ore may show a growth of 0.8% in 2020, as compared to 4.7% growth in 2019. The slow growth is due to government lockdowns around the global disruption in operations. The supply chain has also disrupted as many mines are forced to shut their operation in Canada, South Africa, Peru, and India. Till March 2020, the steel production in China is averaged 3.6% as compared to 7.7% in 2019. As China is also facing the logistic issue, which temporarily has increased China’s demand for seaborne iron ore post-April 2020.IMPACT ON COALCoal is another commodity or metal that has faced the impact of COVID-19 harshly. The demand for coal is facing slowdown from past one decade due to competition from cheap natural gas and other expanded renewable energy sources. As the world is moving away from fossil fuels, the coal industry is in desperate need to revive. Along with this, the pandemic has added a big reason to its downfall and has made the situation worse. Most of the companies in Pennsylvania, Illinois and Virginia have temporarily suspended their operations to control the spread of virus.By January, before the pandemic out broke in the U.S., the drop in coal production was forecasted to 14% in 2020. But as the coronavirus speeded in the country and the mild winter which requires less electricity at heat homes, the downfall is now expected to be more than 25% by the end of this year.In April 2020, the coal exports from Indonesia hit lowest level since June 2009 due to the spread of coronavirus crises. Exports from Indonesia averaged around 32 MT during April 2015-2019 which dropped to almost 18 MT in April 2020. On the other end, import of coal has also suffered in many countries.For instance,India’s coal import in March 2020 was at 15.74 million tons which were low by 27.5% as compared to import in March 2019. Though from April 2019 to March 2020, the total coal and coke imports stood at 242.97 MT (provisional), which is 3.24% higher than from April 2018 to March 2019, the major low will be reflected in the statistics of 2020 fiscal year. As per Vinaya Varma, managing director and chief executive of mjunction services, “The lockdown imposed across the countries due to novel coronavirus pandemic has had a cascading effect on this sector. There was a significant drop in India’s coal import volumes due to both demand and supply-side factors, i.e. offtake, consumption, logistics, and dispatches.” Moreover, as per the statement by Coal Minister Pralhad Joshi, to stop the substitutable import of coal in the next three to four years may further present a dip in the coal industry.IMPACT ON STEELThe steel industry has faced multiple hits this year due to reduced demand from its major consumers, automotive and construction, and infrastructure. Automotive accounts for around 15-20%. In the year 2020, steel production has declined gradually due to the outbreak of coronavirus. Steel industries in countries like India depend on China for various consumables include manganese, refractory products, and compounds, electrodes, and rolls for steel mills. Thus, any impact on the Chinese industry will have direct implications on all the countries that are dependent on China. Due to overdependence on imports, the price of raw materials shoots up by multiple folds and thus making the end product costlier. One of the biggest steelmaking companies, Tata Steel, has recently decided to reduce its dependence on China for the supply of steel making inputs. Along with Tata Steel, many other companies are trying to shift their supplies from China to other countries like Turkey and Brazil. This is one of the steps suggested by the government in discussion with the steel manufacturing companies to de-risk the supply chain.As the demand for steel has gone down tremendously, government of various countries has forced the manufacturers to cut the production to almost 50% of the capacity. Along with this, the lockdown and movement restrictions have also impacted the timely delivery and dispatches of the finished goods. In countries like India, where almost 80-85% of trucks are not moving worsens the situation. Thus, officials are requesting government to allow movement of trucks for the industry as they are the major part of any industry.As per the stats provided by Indian Steel Association (ISA), steel demand in India will face a contraction of 7.7% in 2020. ISA has estimated that in February 2020, the steel demand would grow by 5.1% and will reach 106.7 million tons. But after analyzing the impact and situation that is created due to COVID-19, the estimation has been revised to 93.7 million tons. The lockdown will impact the steel demand by nearly 13 million tons, as per Arnab Kumar Hazra, assistant secretary-general at the Indian Steel Association.IMPACT ON OTHER COMMODITIESCOPPER: Since the beginning of 2020, copper prices have dropped by almost 15% due to a downfall in demand from various end-use industries. However, with most manufacturers/smelters in china and as the country is slowly getting rid of the pandemic, copper demand and prices are expected to bounce back.ZINC: Through the prices zinc rose rapidly from 2015 to 2019 will almost an increase of 32%, now facing downfall of around 18% from 2019 to 2020.NICKEL: Despite of economic downturn, the performance of nickel was better than other commodities. The prices are also showing positive signs along with the supply. It is expected that by the end of 2020, there will be around 3% rise in the demand of nickel.POSSIBLE STEPS TO BRING METAL AND MINING INDUSTRY BACK ON TRACKTo manage this global crisis, mining and metal leaders are working mainly on three aspects: Respond, Recover and Thrive. Some of the important immediate steps that are advised to metal and mining leaders include:Maintain critical services by every possible way while keeping the safety of employees as the top most priority.Focus should be more on understanding the financial situation and accordingly release the cash maintain financial viability even through uncertainty.Rethink on strategies of work done, and improve the ability to collaborate by using automation and digitization.Also to lift up the metal and mining industry, the role played by procurement leaders is also vital. There are responsible to mitigate supply-chain risks, covering and protecting cash with enhancement in the overall productivity by making strategic choices. The Chief Procurement Officers (CPOs) should work closely with the operational team and market players so that a strategic move can be taken towards the spending as in what can be stopped, which can be stalled, what can be shrunk and what must be sustained. A control-tower methodology has been suggested to monitor and challenge all of the company’s spending.One of the major challenges that have appeared in front of almost every industry is over dependency on one or two suppliers. This is of utmost importance that manufacturers should mitigate their risk and lower their losses by increasing number of raw material suppliers so in case pandemic or crises, the operations will not get hit to this extent and situation can be controlled before it gets worsen.CONCLUSIONThe spread of COVID-19 pandemic around the globe has an immediate impact on the global economy and almost on all the industries including metal and mining. In the crises, some of the new players might get more affected than others because of the initial challenges that a business faces and then the challenges brought in by the pandemic. But, for a positive aspect, due to this pandemic, a real sense of togetherness has emerged among the players of the industry to stop the spread of this virus.The spread of coronavirus has taught many of the players in the market how to better manage their business and always be ready for such situations too. In the mining industry, the impact has varied from commodity to commodity.For instance,Where gold is experiencing high price along with thermal coal and uranium, iron ore is feeling pressure to sustain as it is more dependent as consumer demand.So, the steps to bring back the economy should be based on commodity rather than entire industry. Also the slowdown has resulted in some new opportunities and has opened doors for new ways of doing business. Since, the metal and mining are working on the same old patterns without much exploring in the ways of doing business. Now, the manufacturers and suppliers are exploring other methods such as atominization, digitization and remote controlled operations. Not only the manufacturers, but also the consumers are welcoming the online delivery of their products and have resulted in reducing human efforts.Slowly and gradually things are coming back on track. But within few years, by the mutual efforts of the government and manufacturers, the impact can be controlled to an extent. The goal for the players remains same which is to deliver the maximum customer productivity with minimum downtime and maintenance. The impact cannot be eradicated quickly, but will prepare people to say with it with no much impact on their lives.Browse Related Report :Global Metal Foam Market is Expected to grow at 4.3% in the Forecast Period of 2020 to 2027Global Metal Finishing Chemicals Market Rising at CAGR of 4.9% due to Surging Automotive IndustryPrecious Metal Plating Chemicals Market is Growing Due to Increasing Demand from Aerospace Sector
The novel coronavirus/COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted the whole food and beverages industry among which bakery industry is one of them. This pandemic has resulted into mass production shutdowns and supply chain disruptions which has also affected the economy as well.Due to lockdown, during the start of 2020, sales of non-edible products such as disinfectants, toilet paper, paper goods, and hand sanitizer were high in demand and the sales of edible products such as bakery, meat products, and many others were up to the mark as the supply of bakery was insufficient as many of the bakers have shut operations due to shortage of labors. Along with this, disruption in logistics facilities due to the lockdown has created more issues in the market as consumers were not getting products as per their requirement which ultimately affected the market. Another factor that has created an impact on the market is the lack of raw material availability due to which production of products was not proper. Due to these issues, smaller bakers in the unorganized segment are the worst affected, as stated by Mago, who is also a president of the All India Bread Manufacturers Association.But as the time passed, government started allowing reopening of the shops, the demand for the bakery products took hike especially bread and others as these are the essential products which are used in daily diet, majorly as breakfast and evening snacks. Therefore, the demand from house hold sector for bakery products has increased on the other hand the food services sector has faced decline in the market for bakery products that were considered to be one of the demanding products in food service sector.This coronavirus pandemic has increased the demand for bakery products in household sector as it has brought inner bakers in people. Due to this, bread and cookies demand is increasing.For instance,Sales in the bakery aisle sector increased by 62.3% over the week ending March 15, 2020 and it has also been found an increase of approximately 44.3% for combined cookies and crackers in food sector.Fig. 1: Sales Growth of Baked GoodsSource: America Bakers AssociationAs the Schools and offices are closed due to COVID, significant jumps in sales in the bakery aisle have been calculated due to high consumption of these bakery products more at-home in breakfast, coffee break and other occasions.For instance,Below table represents bakery product demand scenario within the March month of 2020.Increase in the bakery sales demand during COVID-19 (in month March 2020)Sales increase for the week ending 3/1/2020Sales increase for the week ending 3/8/2020Sales increase for the week ending 3/15/2020Bakery aisle-1.3%+3.0%+44.3%Fresh bread and rolls-0.4%+4.9%+58.6%Pastries and doughnuts-0.8%+0.9%+29.1%Bakery snacks-2.8%+2.2%+23.1%Pies and cakes-6.5%-5.1%+2.4%Source: America Bakers Association, Total US, MULO, week ending 3/15/2020, represents all UPC itemsIn bakery industry, where one sector i.e. food service is plummeting due to lockdown, another sector i.e. household sector is making an increase in sales of bakery products. The increase in the sales is possible due to the incredible efforts of the entire bakery supply chain.At present time, it is difficult to estimate for the bakery products sales of food service sector, but once the situation of COVID is under control, it will also regain its position as it was in previous years and market value of bakery products will increase in future. BAKERY PRODUCTS MANUFACTURERS: PERSPECTIVE & INITIATIVESThe outbreak of COVID-19 has brought world to a halt where each and every industry has got an impact of it. This crisis has brought to an unexpected situation through which everyone is going on. With such unscrupulous situation, everyone is trying to get over of it. In all, one of the industries is cocoa related product industry which has fallen badly due to covid-19 in the beginning of 2020. But rising support from several companies as well as governments are helping the industry to rebuild the position again in the market.Due to the long time lockdown companies have taken initiatives to open a webshop for the micro bakers and service providers to connect directly through the customers. The pandemic have initially slows down the artisan bakers sector but due to the regularities and initiatives taken by the manufacturers for home delivery service, development of bakery products and systems will fast-track the bakery sector soon.For instance,In 2020, PURATOS leader bakery product manufacturers have developed an optimized in-store management store in which bakerOnline allows the local bakeries to create a personalized webshop where consumers can easily order and can receive the bakery products at home.“COVID-19 has impacted the company’s operations, distribution and internal policies in its business units around the world, including the hardest-hit regions such as China, Italy and others.”Jorge Zárate, global vice president of operations at Mexico City-based Grupo Bimbo stated:“With cafes, restaurants, school and college canteens, supermarket in-store bakeries and a vast number of other foodservice outlets being closed to help stop the spread of the Covid-19 virus, it is inevitable major suppliers to this channel will be facing extremely difficult circumstances and will have some big decisions to make about future strategy.Andy Coyne, deputy editor, ARYZTA stated:“It’s important to invest upfront in a strong supply chain plan so bakers can try to prevent disruptions caused by seasonality, changing consumer preferences and global crises like the novel coronavirus pandemic. Bakers should consider if they have enough equipment and personnel to manage increased production and if products have enough shelf life to sustain the timeframe of production.”Dawn Foods’ Supply Chain team stated:“If bakeries want to scale up their artisan bread production with consistently high quality, they need to have one thing: a perfect process organization,”Richard Breeswine, President & CEO of - Koenig Bakery Systems USASource: Company Websites, Magazines, Nutrition Journals, PortalsCONCLUSIONCovid-19 pandemic has taken a toll on the global population and economy. A collaborative effort on governments, public health departments, and hospital fraternity to fight the coronavirus has led to economic slowdowns, global lockdowns, and extreme public safety measures. The public health measures include creating awareness about home quarantine measuring, maintaining food and healthcare supply, especially to the poor are being strictly followed by governments across the world. During this pandemic situation, public awareness about maintaining high immunity levels has become a serious concern. However, as a staple food in the majority of the countries, bread and bread products have faced a lower impact as compared to other bakery products such as cakes, pastries, and croissants. Household consumption of bread has increased during the lockdown period reducing the consumption of bread products in the foodservice outlets. With foodservice representing approximately 70% of the sales of bakery products, the market for frozen bakery products players has hindered as food consumption has changed from restaurants to home kitchens. However, retail players are has shown considerable growth due to the fresh bread segment. With changing conditions, leverages in the regulations of lockdown and reducing the effect of COVID-19 in the future, the market is estimated to grow at a higher pace.Browse Related PostRising Demand of Bakery Products and Shifting Preference Towards Multi-Grain Breads are Expected to Drive the Global Bakery Processing Equipment Market in the forecast period of 2019 -2026 Global Nutritional Analysis for Bakery Products Market is Expected to reach a Market value of USD 6.2 billion by 2027
