The effects of the Coronavirus epidemic that have already begun to be felt in the global market create the first problems also for companies in the gardening sector, particularly in terms of supply. And there are many worries about the trend, in the coming months, of imports and exports.
The stall in Chinese production and the logistical difficulties of transport affect the arrival of products and components in Italy, as confirmed by the manager of a well-known Italian garden machinery company. «Yes, we have suffered delays in deliveries and we are still waiting for some that we do not know when they will manage to arrive. The fear is that the situation will only get worse, the news is not comforting ».
And also another company - which in the same way prefers to remain anonymous - confirms the concern: "The situation is likely to have serious consequences both from a supply point of view and from the point of view of Italian exports."
Still in the field of tools for green maintenance, in these days Carrefour has made it known, in a statement collected by Corriere della Sera, that the stocks of some Made in China products are thinning, including tools for gardening.
To give an idea of the slowdown, only in January - as the president of the ports of Genoa, Savona and Vado, Paolo Emilio Signorini told ANSA - the reduction in volumes traded from Chinese ports was 20%, with 7 cancellations of services for the next three months on the Asia-Europe route. "The coronavirus - Signorini told Ansa - has caused a block in production and trade in China. Looking ahead, if the epidemic is effectively controlled, both from the point of view of the dangerousness of the virus and of contagion and spread, we will have a slowdown in the import export of a few months, vice versa if the block in the production in China lasted longer damage would be significant. The very important data for us - he explains - is to understand when the workforce in China will return to factories and construction sites, at the moment the situation is still stagnant even if they are starting to work in shifts in offices ».