Economics
Bottlenecks and Lockdowns Test European Faith in a Recovery
- Supplier delivery times jump to second-highest in 24 years
- Input costs surge, yet manufacturers stay optimistic for now
A pedestrian walks past a closed-down store in the City of London.
Photographer: Tolga Akmen/AFP/Getty Images
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European manufacturers are struggling to get supplies and their costs are surging at the start of 2021, testing their optimism that the economy will recover from the pandemic.
Supplier delivery times tracked by IHS Markit jumped in January by the most since the data started being collected in 1997, with the exception of last April when the pandemic shut factories worldwide. The blockages contributed to the steepest rise in input costs in nearly three years.