While some of the drop in manufacturing orders for China are attributed to Covid restrictions, the collapse in U.S. demand for goods is reflective of falling consumer confidence and rising interest rates.
Hellenic Shipping News reports that “the drop in manufacturing orders from the U.S. and the E.U. is also impacting Vietnam, which has been booming as a manufacturing hub as more trade moved away from China.”
“Since early this year, 12,500 companies were closed per month, a 24.8% increase year over year, according to the Vietnam General Statistics Office report. The combination of the lack of manufacturing orders and loan interest rates increasing from 6.5% to 13.2% in Vietnam led many companies to close factories instead of signing new order contracts,” according to HLS.
Central banks in Europe and across the world are struggling to bring down inflation, and climbing interest rates are negatively impacting borrowing and spending.