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Global demand for semiconductors has plummeted this year, hitting the heavily specialized manufacturing economies of South Korea and Taiwan particularly hard.

Big-name companies are choosing to invest in US manufacturing as a result of the billions of dollars of subsidies coming out of the Inflation Reduction Act, the CHIPs and Science Act in particular. Does this mark a new era of growth for US manufacturing?

Chinese manufacturing output emerged from 2020 relatively unscathed due to strong COVID-19 measures. But now the Chinese economy has slowed down and competitors are catching-up.

Adrian Lloyd, CEO of Interact Analysis, discusses Covid, manufacturing and supply chains.

Chinese manufacturing is under pressure from both ends: raw material and energy prices are rising sharply; while consumer demand is weak. However, despite considerable supply chain problems during the latter part of the year, the 4th quarterly update of our Manufacturing Industry Output (MIO) tracker, shows that Chinese manufacturing is on track to achieve 5.9% growth.

In this insight, we take a look at German manufacturing, where COVID-19 recently forced the cancellation of the leading global show for advanced manufacturing and industrial technologies: Smart Production Solutions (SPS) in Nuremberg.

Swathes of global industry are still suffering from a hangover from the pandemic, with a number of negative factors playing out–vaccine hesitation, semiconductor shortages and labor shortages being three major drags on sustained recovery. In this insight, we cast a light on the issue of worker shortages: Why are they happening? What are the implications?

As pharmaceuticals companies Pfizer and Moderna give us cause for optimism on the vaccine front, our research shows that earlier estimations of the damage caused to manufacturing output in 2020 by the COVID-19 pandemic have seen positive adjustments, and that recovery is therefore going to be faster. So, we have what is potentially good news on two fronts.

In this insight, Adrian Lloyd uses data from the latest update to Interact Analysis's Manufacturing Industry Output Tracker to discuss Australia's manufacturing industry, with some surprising baseline figures.