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US and APAC equity markets closed mixed, while Europe was lower.
US government bonds closed higher and benchmark European government
bonds were mixed. The European iTraxx and CDX-NA indices were
almost flat on the day, with the latter closing slightly tighter.
Gold and oil were higher on the day, while silver and copper closed
lower. The combination of unprecedented amounts government
stimulus/liquidity and the rapid development of a COVID-19 vaccine
drove an unexpectedly rapid recovery from March's lows across
equities, credit, and commodities, but the final numbers of 2020
indicate that the year did conclude with a significant spread
between the best and worst performing markets.
Americas
US equity markets closed mixed with the S&P 500 and DJIA
closing new record highs; DJIA +0.7%, S&P 500 +0.6%, Nasdaq
+0.1%, and Russell 2000 -0.3%.
The Nasdaq was the best performing global equity index, ending
the year +43.6%:
10yr US govt bonds closed -1bp/0.92% yield and 30yr bonds
-1bp/1.65% yield.
South Korea and China were the only countries whose 10yr
sovereign bond yield ended the year at the higher end of the 2020
range:
CDX-NAIG closed -1bp/50bps and CDX-NAHY -3bps/293bps.
Here is a summary of this year's European iTraxx and CDX-NA
daily spreads from IHS Markit's Price Viewer:
DXY US dollar index closed +0.3%/89.97 and remains near the
lowest level since March 2018.
Gold closed +0.1%/$1,895 per ounce, silver -0.6%/$26.41 per
ounce, and copper -0.8%/$3.52 per pound.
Crude oil closed +0.2%/$48.52 per barrel.
Silver ended the year +47.4%, while Brent/WTI were over 20%
lower.
US consumption of gasoline has turned up over the last couple
of weeks but remains well below a normal range for this time of
year, suggesting reduced internal mobility. (IHS Markit Economists
Ben Herzon and Joel Prakken)
Seasonally adjusted (SA) US initial claims for unemployment
insurance fell by 19,000 to 787,000 in the week ended 26 December.
The not seasonally adjusted (NSA) tally of initial claims fell by
31,736 to 841,111. Last week's numbers may have been affected by
the Christmas holiday. (IHS Markit Economist Akshat Goel)
The president signed the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021
over the weekend, which provides enhanced benefits of up to $300
per week for 11 weeks, half the amount provided in the Coronavirus
Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. Funding for the
Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) and the Pandemic Emergency
Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) programs was also extended by 11
weeks.
Seasonally adjusted continuing claims (in regular state
programs), which lag initial claims by a week, fell by 103,000 to
5,219,000 in the week ended 19 December. Prior to seasonal
adjustment, continuing claims fell by 171,035 to 5,258,073. The
insured unemployment rate in the week ended 19 December was
unchanged at 3.6%.
Independent contractors, self-employed individuals, or
individuals who otherwise would not qualify for benefits in regular
state programs can apply for claims under PUA. There were 308,262
unadjusted initial claims for PUA in the week ended 26 December. In
the week ended 12 December, continuing claims for PUA fell by
811,465 to 8,459,647.
Individuals who have exhausted regular benefits are eligible
for up to 24 weeks of extended benefits under PEUC. In the week
ended 12 December, continuing claims for PEUC fell by 20,377 to
4,772,853. With the latest extension to 24 weeks for PEUC, eligible
recipients can receive up to 50 weeks of unemployment benefits
between the regular state programs and PEUC.
The Department of Labor provides the total number of claims for
benefits under all its programs with a two-week lag. In the week
ended 12 December, the unadjusted total fell by 799,841 to
19,563,905.
Passenger throughput at US airports relative to year-earlier
levels generally trended sideways over the last several days after
a sharp increase ahead of the Christmas holiday. On a seven-day
average basis, throughput has risen to its highest level since late
March in the past week as passengers perhaps are prioritizing
holiday travel (relative to business and other leisure travel).
There was similar strength around the Thanksgiving holiday.
Furthermore, revenue per available room at US hotels last week was
52.3% below the year-earlier level, according to STR. This was down
from the prior week's reading and in line with the sideways trend
of continually weak year-over-year comparisons over the last
several months. By this metric, recovery in the travel sector
stalled during the summer months and has yet to gain renewed
traction. (IHS Markit Economists Ben Herzon and Joel Prakken)
IHS Markit forecasts that battery electric passenger-car sales
volumes across China, Europe, and the United States will reach 2.45
million units in 2021, or about a 5.4% market share, representing
an increase of 1.7% over 2020. (IHS Markit AutoIntelligence's
Stephanie Brinley)
Electrification is a growing dynamic in the auto industry,
strongly affected by regulatory compliance issues in 2020 and 2021,
according to IHS Markit. China and Europe are leading the
regulatory push on electrification, and President-elect Joe Biden
in the US expected to provide more government support for an
electric vehicle (EV) transition as a method to address climate
change.
In the European market in 2020, battery electric vehicle (BEV)
sales were boosted substantially by regulatory requirements,
despite overall market weakness on the impact of the COVID-19
pandemic. The passenger-car CO2 target of 95 g/km has been phased
in during 2020 and will be fully implemented in 2021. The market
share of BEV sales increased to nearly 7% in October and was
growing in the last quarter of 2020, aiding all major car
manufacturers in minimizing the potential regulatory compliance
gap.
Vijay Subramanian, IHS Markit CO2 compliance director,
automotive, says, "Excess premiums for 2020 are expected to reach
EUR1.04 billion with a market-wide CO2 target miss of 2 g."
Although Europe has been a significant regulatory driver of
electrification, China remains a leading market for electrified
vehicles with its "dual-credit" policy. The 4 liter/100 km CAFC
Phase-5 target for 2025, with updated new energy vehicle (NEV)
requirements starting from 2021, will be the key driver further
intensifying electrification development in the region. Subramanian
says, "However, current IHS Markit forecasts predict a BEV market
share of nearly 14.6%, representing nearly 3.2 million passenger
vehicles in China by 2025 - which will still leave a significant
gap and more than 10 million CAFC credit deficits."
In the US, the Safer Affordable Fuel-Efficient (SAFE) Vehicles
Rule was finalized and released on 30 March 2020. US
fuel-efficiency and emissions rules are set on a national level
through the 2026 model year. Xi Wang, IHS Markit powertrain
analyst, says, "As a result, relaxation of standards is expected to
provide some headwinds to the wave of new BEV vehicles being
introduced to the market. However, with the incoming Biden
administration, the possibility of the US rejoining the Paris
Agreement and the California waiver being reinstated may well
incentivize BEVs in the US market sooner rather than later." US
emissions and fuel-economy standards for the period following the
2026 model year are expected to be set under President-elect Joe
Biden's future administration, which is expected to adopt a
more-aggressive policy approach than the current
administration.
During 2020, automakers revealed a number of high-profile new
EVs, many of which are arriving in 2021. In addition, automakers
such as Volkswagen, Ford, and General Motors have announced
increases in EV investment, both for production and for vehicle
development. The momentum on automakers' investment has shifted
decisively to electrified propulsion.
Although a transition to a light-vehicle market predominantly
made up of BEVs likely remains at least a decade away, more
governments announced in the second half of 2020 national or
regional initiatives on discouraging or fully banning sales of ICE
vehicles anywhere from 2030 to 2045.
Along with regulatory actions in Europe and China, the
narrative on electrification and BEVs as a solution to address
climate change has increased in 2020 and will affect the industry
in the coming decade.
As we exit 2020 and begin 2021, IHS Markit offers this look at
the decline of 2020 and prospects for improvement in 2021. Although
there remain headwinds, the year is closing with approvals of
multiple COVID-19 vaccines in various countries, as well as a trade
deal framework for the UK exit from the European Union. The
vaccines and elimination of the threat of a no-deal Brexit are
positive signals. Although the decline in global sales and
production was not as dire as expected in the April-May 2020
timeframe, the declines in the second quarter of 2020 were far more
severe than the 8% decline over the two-year 2008 to 2009
recession. IHS Markit forecasts a 9% y/y gain in global auto sales
and a 14% y/y improvement in production in 2021, compared to the
pandemic-induced declines in 2020. IHS Markit's economics team
estimates global real GDP dropped 4.0% y/y in 2020, with a recovery
in 2021 expected to lead to growth of 4.5% y/y. However, IHS Markit
forecasts that it will take until 2023 to reach the level of 2019
again (89.7 million units), as growth in 2022 and 2023 (5% and 4%
respectively) slow from 2021 improvements. (IHS Markit
AutoIntelligence's Stephanie Brinley)
The USA's Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) has
lifted restrictions that prevented vineyards from selling wine in
regular-sized cans. Previously, the TTB only allowed wine and hard
(alcoholic) cider above 6.9% ABV to be sold in larger cans such as
12.7 ounces (375 milliliters), and only allowed 8.4-oz cans to be
sold in packs of three or four, not individually. Now, wine can be
sold in the same traditional-sized cans as carbonated soft drinks
and beers, such as 12 oz and individually in 8.4 oz. Senator Chuck
Schumer, who has advocated on behalf of New York State vineyards
for the restrictions to be lifted, applauded the move. According to
Schumer's office, in 2019, canned wine sales grew by 68%, resulting
in sales of nearly USD200 million, reports WENY News. "New York's
USD4.8 billion wine industry was left hanging on the vine by TTB's
outdated rules and restrictions," said Schumer. "Today's decision
to allow winemakers to sell their products in the most
popular-sized cans will lead to further economic growth and allow
producers to capitalize on an explosive trend. "I'm proud to have
helped New York's wine industry cut through the bureaucratic red
tape, can regulations that weren't helping anybody, and uncork the
full potential of the Upstate economy." Back in July, Senator
Schumer visited Fox Run Vineyards in Penn Yan to call for the TTB
to lift the restrictions, arguing that the 12-ounce cans are less
expensive and easier to source than the larger cans. He added that
a survey showed individually sold cans were most popular among
customers. (IHS Markit Food and Agricultural Commodities' Neil
Murray)
Researchers at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL)
have developed a new machine-learning-based tool that uses publicly
available traffic data to predict street-level traffic flow. The
tool, called Transportation State Estimation Capability (TranSEC),
will support traffic engineers to relieve bottlenecks to alleviate
city traffic. The new tool combines datasets collected from UBER
drivers and other publicly available traffic sensor data to map
traffic flow over time. The TranSEC team began using data from the
entire 1,500-square-mile Los Angeles metropolitan area to reduce
the time needed to create a traffic congestion model from hours to
minutes. Arif Khan, a PNNL computer scientist who helped develop
TranSEC, said, "What's novel here is the street level estimation
over a large metropolitan area. And unlike other models that only
work in one specific metro area, our tool is portable and can be
applied to any urban area where aggregated traffic data is
available." The project is supported by the US Department of
Energy's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy's Vehicle
Technologies Office, Energy Efficient Mobility Systems Program.
PNNL is planning to make TranSEC available to municipalities
nationwide and eventually use it to help to program autonomous
vehicle routes. Uber is involved in multiple projects to help
cities curb traffic. It has teamed up with Ford and Lyft to share
data that will help the mobility companies to manage traffic in
cities. The three companies have committed to SharedStreets, a
non-profit organization, to develop standards for private transport
companies on shared data. (IHS Markit Automotive Mobility's Surabhi
Rajpal)
Europe/Middle East/Africa
European equity markets closed lower; UK -1.5%, Spain -1.0%,
and France -0.9%.
10yr European govt bonds closed mixed; France +1bp and UK/Spain
-1bp.
iTraxx-Europe closed flat/48bps and iTraxx-Xover
+4bps/243bps.
Brent crude closed +0.3%/$51.80 per barrel.
The agreed EU-UK trade deal is a welcome development for the UK
economy, which is facing the prospect of ever-tighter COVID-19
virus restrictions spilling into 2021. However, the new arrangement
is a "slim" version, dealing predominantly with trade in goods
while paying minimal attention to services. (IHS Markit Economist
Raj Badiani)
The European Union and the United Kingdom have reached an
agreement on their future trading relationship, which will begin
once the UK leaves the EU single market and Customs Union on 1
January 2021.
The ratification process is under way. The deal has been
reached given the unanimous backing of the 27 EU ambassadors, while
the member states have all given their written approval. In an
emergency sitting on 30 December, the UK parliament approved the
deal, which has been passed into law.
Meanwhile, the European Parliament has already announced that
it will not hold a vote until early 2021, but the deal is to be
applied provisionally until its complete ratification.
The deal allows "zero tariff, zero quota" trade in goods
between the UK and the EU, the UK's biggest trade partner.
In 2019, UK export of goods to the EU were GBP170 billion (7.7%
of UK nominal GDP). Meanwhile, UK import of goods from the EU were
GBP266.1 billion.
The EU has insisted that the UK would only have tariff-free
access to the EU single market if the country commits legally to a
set of "level playing field" principles that minimize the risk that
it will undercut the EU on environmental regulation, workers'
rights, and state aid to businesses. However, the UK insisted that
any trade agreement with the EU has to respect its sovereignty and
freedom. The agreed compromise is as follows:
Both sides have agreed to a non-regression clause in the deal,
meaning that the UK and the EU will not distil the shared rules
they currently have on workplace rights and environmental
standards.
A new arbitration mechanism system or a joint partnership
council will be formed to resolve any disputes as a result of
regulatory divergences between the two parties using international
law. Ultimately, this could allow for sanctions in the form of
tariffs if either side seriously diverges from the other's
regulations.
Importantly, the UK achieves its primary goal to deny the
European Court of Justice (ECJ) a place in settling disputes over
the application of the deal.
The EU dropped its demand for a ratchet mechanism to trigger
automatic tariffs if the UK diverges from EU regulations.
The UK is not required to follow EU rules on state aid
subsidies to businesses but must observe the broad principles set
out in the treaty.
Manufacturers also welcomed an agreement over rules of origin,
which allows them to self-certify and ensure that the processing of
goods also counts under the zero-tariff regime. Stuart Rowley,
president of Ford Europe, said, "It is now important to understand
the detailed rules of origin which will apply and to create as
smooth a transition as possible by maximizing flexibility as
businesses adjust to the new trading environment."
On balance, the EU-UK trade deal still represents good news for
UK manufacturers, given its large export base.
The agreed trade deal for goods, which is a narrow version, is
broadly in line with our expectations.
Despite the limited trade deal, it still represents a welcome
relief by removing the risk of failed trade negotiations negatively
affecting the UK economy, already scarred by the COVID-19 virus
crisis.
Furthermore, ever-tighter COVID-19 virus restrictions in
England and elsewhere in the UK point to renewed GDP losses in the
final quarter of 2020 alongside the increasing risk of further
weakness in early 2021. Indeed, the UK government has placed 44.1
million or 78.3% of England's population in the toughest tier 4,
which orders the closure of non-essential retail outlets and the
hospitality and leisure sectors.
Nevertheless, the trade deal has some shortcomings, namely that
large parts of the UK economy are beyond the scope of this
agreement, and its future relationship with the EU for much of its
services economy and the financial services sector remains
undefined.
A wider agreement to include services was out of reach,
particularly with the current UK administration insisting on full
sovereignty of its parliament and precedence over the sovereignty
of all other parliaments and no jurisdiction of the ECJ in English
law.
With the UK leaving the EU single market and Customs Union, UK
exporters will still face additional checks for safety and security
documentation, and customs papers, implying that it does not
guarantee frictionless trade. Although a deal has been reached, UK
traders face a new raft of paperwork and cost. According to
industry groups, the UK leaving the EU single market and Customs
Union will require UK firms to complete an additional 200 million
customs forms at an estimated cost of more than GBP7 billion a
year.
The stretched Brexit process has taken its toll on the UK's
industrial sector, diluting its willingness to invest. Indeed, the
lack of Brexit clarity has squeezed business investment since 2018,
with firms at first fearing a no-deal Brexit and the threat to
their exports to the EU after the UK leaves the region's Customs
Union and single market. This has led to diminishing industrial
sentiment, triggering a sustained fall in business investment led
by plummeting machinery and equipment investment.
Rimac Automobili has started pre-series production of its
all-electric hypercar 'C_Two' at its facility in Veliko Trgovišće,
Croatia, according to a company statement. The automaker will build
six pre-series units of the C_Two before full-scale production in
2021. "We're creating an entirely new type of performance vehicle
with the C_Two. After thousands of virtual simulation hours, years
of design and engineering, and many rough and ready prototypes,
it's a very special feeling to see pre-series cars now making their
way up our production line. This is the clearest sign yet that the
C_Two is almost here, and we can't wait to deliver the cars to our
customers in 2021 and to showcase it all over the world," said
Rimac Automobili founder and CEO Mate Rimac. In June, Rimac
Automobili opened the new production line at its Croatian plant for
the C_Two. The production line has already been used for the
production of 12 experimental and validation prototype C_Two
vehicles, used for the extensive testing program as well as
validation and crash testing. Now, the six pre-series cars are
essentially production-specification C_Twos, with a fit and finish,
drivability, and reliability that is nearly production-ready.
Assembling each C_Two pre-series car takes around eight weeks,
cutting the production time in half compared to the "nest
production" used before the production line was created and
allowing for the build of four final vehicles a month at full
capacity. The pre-series cars will be used for the final tweaks
before full-scale production begins, dedicated to homologation
tests, durability tests, trim experimentation, NVH tweaking, and
global product evaluation, according to the automaker. The Rimac
C_Two is equipped with a 120-kWh battery pack, which gives the car
a range of 650 km, based on New European Driving Cycle (NEDC), the
automaker claimed when it first revealed the vehicle in 2018. (IHS
Markit AutoIntelligence's Jamal Amir)
Honda's Russian subsidiary will stop supplying new cars to
official dealers in Russia beginning in 2022, according to Reuters.
The move is reportedly part of Honda's overall operations
restructuring efforts. Honda will remain in Russia in the
motorcycle and power equipment sectors, and will continue
after-sales service for its vehicles in the country. Reuters says
Honda's Russia sales in January-November dropped 15% year on year
(y/y) to 1,383 vehicles. According to IHS Markit data, Honda's
presence in Russia has been minimal for several years. Although
Honda's Russia light-vehicle sales spiked to 5,114 units in 2018,
that was still only 0.28% of the market. Sales in 2019 fell to
1,837 units and are expected to end 2020 at about 1,600 units, or
0.13% of a 1.466-million-unit market. Since 2010, Honda has carried
less than 1% of the Russian light-vehicle market, with its best
year on a volume basis in the past decade occurring in 2013, with
sales of 25,744 units and market share of 0.92%. (IHS Markit
AutoIntelligence's Stephanie Brinley)
El Nasr Automotive Manufacturing Company and Dongfeng Motor
have announced the postponement of the signing of final contracts
for a vehicle-assembly partnership, reports Zawya. Egyptian Public
Enterprises Minister Hisham Tawfik said that "both parties are
still working on the international arbitration clauses of the
agreement". Earlier this month, it was reported that El Nasr was
preparing to enter a production partnership with Dongfeng. As a
part of the arrangement, the manufacturing company plans to produce
25,000 electric vehicles (EVs) at an estimated cost of EGP2.5
billion (USD158.7 million). In addition, Chinese automaker Dongfeng
announced earlier this month the signing of a memorandum of
understanding (MOU) on the manufacturing of EVs in Egypt. The
negotiations on the proposed deal were restarted in March after
they were halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which hit China at
the very start of the year. The Egyptian government has stepped up
efforts to attract automakers to build vehicles in the country.
Egypt has been a hub for vehicle exports to other Middle Eastern
and African countries in recent years. (IHS Markit
AutoIntelligence's Tarun Thakur)
Asia-Pacific
APAC equity markets closed mixed; Mainland China +1.7%, Hong
Kong +0.3%, India flat, and Australia -1.4%.
Mainland China's official manufacturing Purchasing Managers'
Index (PMI) reading stood at 51.9 in December, down 0.2 point from
November. This is the 10th consecutive month that the PMI has
remained above the neutral 50-point mark, indicating expansion.
(IHS Markit Economist Yating Xu)
Moderation was registered across sub-indices, particularly
production and new orders. The new exports orders index declined
slightly but remained in expansion, and the expectation index for
exporting firms rose for the eighth consecutive month.
The purchased materials prices and producer prices sub-indexes
continued to rise as climbing commodity prices drove up prices in
the petroleum processing, ferrous-metals smelting, and non-ferrous
metals smelting segments.
Employment pressure in manufacturing sector further eased with
the continuous recovery in demand and supply.
By sector, the high-tech manufacturing sector continued to lead
the headline growth, registering a PMI reading of 55.8, with the
production, new orders, and employment indices all in expansion
territory and significantly above headline figures.
By firm scale, The PMI for large- and medium-sized firms stayed
in expansion territory, while small firms contracted further with
rising cost of materials, logistics and labors.
Mainland China's non-manufacturing PMI declined by 0.7 point to
sit at 55.7 in December, driven by a deceleration in services
activity while construction activity continued to accelerate.
The construction businesses activity index rose by 0.2 point to
reach 60.7 owing to the sustained recovery in property and
manufacturing investment.
The services PMI dropped by 0.9 point to 54.8 as the index for
the catering and real estate sales segments further contracted,
reflecting the increase in COVID-19 cases in the region since
October.
The indices for financials, the capital market, and
telecommunication services stayed in expansion territory.
The composite output PMI, covering both manufacturing and
non-manufacturing sectors, came in at 55.1, down 0.6 point from the
previous reading, marking the first decline since August. However,
this reading remains above the three-year average of 53.5%.
Despite declining from the preceding month, the December PMI
reading remains above the seasonal average, and supportive policies
will continue to drive overall economic recovery in 2021. At the
fourth-quarter 2020 meeting of the central bank's monetary policy
committee, authorities vowed to continue efforts to ensure abundant
liquidity, provide targeted support to the real economy, and lower
interest rates.
Chinese battery maker Contemporary Amperex Technology Limited
(CATL) plans to invest CNY39 billion (USD5.97 billion) to build
three battery factories to further expand its operations in China,
reports China Daily, citing a statement from CATL. The battery
maker is said to invest CNY17 billion to build a lithium-ion
battery base in Fuding in Ningde, Fujian province. Another CNY12
billion will be used to set up a new plant in Liyang, Jiangsu
province, while the remaining CNY10 billion will be used to expand
its production base in Yibin, Sichuan province. The battery
production capacity of each project has yet to be announced by
CATL. Judging from the scale of the combined investment, the three
new projects are expected to add an additional capacity of 120 GWh
for CATL in the next four years. The company currently has a
battery capacity of 53 GWh in China with another 22 GWh under
construction. According to its 2019 annual report, its plant
utilization rate has already reached over 89%, the highest among
battery makers in the country. (IHS Markit AutoIntelligence's Abby
Chun Tu)
New vehicle sales in Malaysia grew by 7.4% year on year (y/y)
to 56,489 units during November, according to figures released by
the Malaysian Automotive Association (MAA) and data compiled by IHS
Markit. Of this total, passenger vehicle sales accounted for 51,174
units, up by 7.2% y/y, while commercial vehicle (CV) sales stood at
5,315 units, up by 10.0% y/y. In the year to date (YTD), total
industry sales stood at 454,708 units, down by 17.2% y/y. Of the
total, passenger vehicles accounted for 412,977 units, while CVs
accounted for 41,731 units. It is important to note that the
monthly data do not include sales by BMW, Mini, Mercedes-Benz, and
Scania. After experiencing huge slumps in March, April, and May,
the Malaysian new vehicle market posted growth for the sixth
consecutive month in November. This growth has been the result of
the relaxation of COVID-19 virus-related containment measures since
the beginning of May; price reductions due to the 100% sales tax
exemption on locally assembled CKD models and the 50% exemption on
fully imported CBU models; new model launches; and attractive sales
promotions from automakers. (IHS Markit AutoIntelligence's Jamal
Amir)
Dragon fruits are one of the most popular imported fruits in
China. In January-November, China spent over USD500 million cost,
insurance, and freight (CIF) on the fresh fruit from the world.
China is Vietnam's largest trading partner for dragon fruits,
accounting for 80% of its exports. In January-November, China
received 572,000 tons from Vietnam, up 40% from this time last
year. The price was USD900 per ton cif, up 8%. Shipments from
Taiwan halved from last year to 90 tons, at a price of USD2,200/ton
cif. China has expanded its planted areas rapidly over the past
decade, according to local Chinese media. Many farmers have
switched from other crops such as banana to dragon fruits. However,
there is no consensus on the exact planted area. China's Southern
Rural Daily reported that the planted area is about 800,000 to 1.0
million mu (53,333-66,666 hectares). Vietnam is the world's largest
producer, with an output of about 2.0 million tons in 2019. The
white-fleshed variety accounts for 95% of the production. The
open-field season is June-November. The country also has
counter-season crops (December to June) supported by artificial
lighting. With China's expansion in planted areas and anticipated
self-sufficient in the long term, Vietnam is keen to explore and
strengthen trades to India, New Zealand, Australia and Chile. (IHS
Markit Food and Agricultural Commodities' Hope Lee)
Posted 31 December 2020 by Chris Fenske, Head of Fixed Income Research, Americas, IHS Markit
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