The impact of coronavirus on Bangladesh's trade for disruptions to China's exports of intermediate inputs is amounted to be $16 million, a UN report revealed.
Its leather sector might be the worst affected with $15 million, followed by textile and apparel $1.0 million, said the report on 'Global trade impact of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Epidemic'.
The Division on International Trade and Commodities of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) prepared the report.
Among the most affected economies, the trade impact of China's slowdown is estimated to be $15.6 billion for European Union, $5.8 billion for the United States, $5.2 billion for Japan, $3.8 billion for South Korea, $2.6 billion for Taiwan and $2.3 billion for Vietnam.
According to the report, its worrying effects on human life, this novel viral strain has the potential to significantly slow down not only Chinese economy, but also the global economy.
"China has become the central manufacturing hub of many global business operations. Any disruption to China's output is expected to have repercussions elsewhere through regional and global value chains."
Indeed, the most recent data from China indicates a substantial decline in output, the report said. China Manufacturing Purchasing Manager's Index (PMI), a critical production index, fell by about 22 points in February.
This index is highly correlated with exports and such a decline implies a reduction in exports of about 2.0 per cent on an annualized basis, it added.
In other words, the drop observed in February spread over the year is equivalent to -2.0 per cent of the supply of intermediate goods, according to the report.
The methods used in this note are meant to identify the economic sectors and countries that are most exposed to a disruption of China's exports of intermediate inputs, the report revealed.
China's rising importance in the global economy is not only related to its status as a manufacturer and exporter of consumer products.
China has become the main supplier of intermediate inputs for manufacturing companies abroad.
As of today, the report said, about 20 per cent of global trade in manufacturing intermediate products originates in China (up from 4.0 per cent in 2002).
smjahangirfe@gmail.com