Supply chain issues hitting EuropeBloomberg and Reuters, TokyoEuropean manufacturers are increasingly strained by global supply-chain problems that are pushing up prices and could last well into next year. A gauge by IHS Markit measuring business activity in manufacturing fell last month by the biggest margin since April last year — the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. European-area inflation is expected to have quickened to above 3 percent last month, well exceeding the European Central Bank’s 2 percent target. Manufacturing activity there rebounded last month after COVID-19’s grip on several countries loosened, allowing the easing of lockdown measures that had shut down factories. Countries where large outbreaks of the Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 receded saw an improvement in activity, such as Indonesia and India.

Source: Taipei Times October 01, 2021 15:56 UTC