Swiss trading companies are relatively well through the crises – but few are saving energy Musk sells Tesla shares worth about four billion dollars

What happened?

Of the Trade association for trade in Switzerland released the results of a foreign trade survey of 33 industry associations on Wednesday.

According to this data, the trade sectors involved in exports have recovered relatively well from the numerous crises such as rising commodity prices, the war in Ukraine or the impending energy shortage. 50 percent were able to increase sales.

“The rate of increase ranged from 3.1 to 50 percent,” Kaspar Engeli, director of Trade Switzerland, said at an online conference on Tuesday. (see Resources).

On the other hand, a good quarter of retail sectors complained of a downturn in foreign trade. “This was between 7 and 20 percent,” Engeli said.

What are the consequences of the crises for companies?

The general mood is surprisingly good, says the director of Trade Switzerland in an interview with news agency AWP. Foreign trade is going well, watches are exported like crazy. “But the pressure on margins is there.” Margins would erode with rising prices. And depending on the industry, you have to wait a very long time for spare parts.

“There is an uncertainty there. But in retail everyone says it’s not the first time,” said Engeli. We also experienced the Frankish shock, which brought many companies to the brink of collapse. And today the Frankish shock is already forgotten by many.

Moreover, the situation has eased again since the height of the crises. Prices for fuel, steel and nickel have recently fallen again. Sea freight transport prices and the numerous delays of ships have also fallen.

In the spring, 90 percent of ships from Asia arrived with a delay of at least three days, says the head of logistics company Nord-Transport, Pascal Felten. It is currently about half. Freight prices, which increased tenfold during peak times to $20,000 per 40-foot container, have now fallen to $4,500 to $6,000 for ocean freight.

What are the effects of the increased raw material prices?

Of the three crises — the war in Ukraine, higher commodity prices and energy shortages — rising commodity prices have so far had the greatest impact on members of the 33 trade associations surveyed, Engeli said: “93 percent of retail sectors are facing the effects of higher commodity prices,” he said: “In 60 percent of cases, the consequences are severe.”

The consequences of rising raw material prices are larger inventories and additional costs (18 percent each), higher liquidity requirements (16 percent) or loss of turnover (13 percent). In contrast, 7 percent were able to increase sales.

And the war in Ukraine?

Engeli said the war in Ukraine changed Swiss foreign trade for three-quarters of the members of the associations surveyed. 40 percent of industries saw a strong impact. The war in Ukraine has had no impact in a fifth of retail sectors.

“A third of retail sectors have disrupted supply chains. Almost a fifth of trading companies complain about extra costs,” says Engeli: “The loss of turnover and the increase in turnover are approximately in balance at 5 and 4 percent respectively.”

What about saving electricity?

Three quarters of those surveyed see future energy bottlenecks as an impact on foreign trade. The consequences are serious in every second retail sector, Engeli said:

What makes you sit up and pay attention: Just under a third of those surveyed have launched an energy-saving program (20%) or are setting up other energy solutions (10%).

Only 10 percent of companies fear loss of turnover. But 21 percent of industry representatives surveyed see themselves facing more effort.

sources

(dsc/sda/awp)