Japan’s Industry Output Slides in July as Delta Variant Spreads

“With the chip shortage issue, the global spread of the Delta variant and particularly its impact on parts supply from Southeast Asia puts pressure on production.”

The Covid-19 pandemic continues to hustle businesses worldwide. The latest variant, Delta, has impacted countries’ factory output amid the rising technology products demand. During lockdowns, consumers purchased new technology products, hence the demand. There are several countries, including Taiwan that took charge and battled the latest variant effectively. However, there are a few countries that have not countered the virus spread as expected. Japan, for instance, has witnessed a cases surge lately, impacting its industrial output. The country’s numbers fell in July, compared to what it achieved in June.

June showed promising results as there was a sharp jump of 6.5 percent, the highest since the pandemic hit the country. According to a Reuters poll, July output took a serious blow and dropped to 2.5 percent. The reason that set the negative mood in the market was the supply chains disruption caused due to the rampant spread of the virus.

The poll committee consists of 18 economists.

“With the chip shortage issue, the global spread of the Delta variant and particularly its impact on parts supply from Southeast Asia puts pressure on production” by Japanese manufacturers, said Takeshi Minami, chief economist at Norinchukin Research Institute.

The quote used in this piece was taken from Reuters.