The Asia-Pacific region is well-placed in the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine rollout, with both India and China having sufficient domestic innovation and production capacity to be pivotal vaccine suppliers. Vaccine rollouts in most Asia-Pacific countries will likely extend into 2022 given supply constraints, logistical difficulties, the geographical spread of rural populations, and shortages of trained healthcare professionals. Join Lindsay Newman, Bree Neff, Sophie Cairns, and Deepa Kumar in today's episode as they discuss the geopolitics of the vaccine rollout, vaccine development, and what this means for the recovery timeline. Read more about our vaccine coverage: https://ihsmarkit.com/research-analysis/geopolitical-implications-vaccine-rollout-asia-pacific.html Dr. Lindsay Newman, Director, Economics & Country Risk, IHS Markithttps://ihsmarkit.com/experts/newman-lindsay.html Bree Neff, Director, Economics - Asia Pacific, IHS Markit https://ihsmarkit.com/experts/neff-bree.html Sophie Cairns, Senior Research Analyst, Life Sciences, IHS Markit https://ihsmarkit.com/experts/cairns-sophie.html Deepa Kumar, Senior Analyst – Asia-Pacific Country Risk, IHS Markit https://ihsmarkit.com/experts/kumar-deepa.html

Join John Anton and Patrick Warren from our pricing and purchasing team as they talk about the increases in packaging costs in the first half of 2021. After a decrease in costs and 2019 and a flat 2020, box and board is experiencing a second price increase in 4 months. Driven mainly by increased demand from online shopping, box demand is at all-time record levels. Add in some supply side pressures around labor shortages, wage increases due to overtime, transportation disruptions, and even cyber-attacks and you have an interesting story around what's unfolding now and what's to come later in the year. Patrick Warren, Senior Economist, Pricing and Purchasing John Anton, Director, Pricing and Purchasing https://ihsmarkit.com/experts/anton-john.html

2020 was the worst year for the global economy in a long time. And the same can be said for the Chinese economy. In today's episode, we join our China economics team, Todd Lee, Yating Xu, and Lei Yi to understand how strong China's economic recovery was in late 2020, what were the key drivers, and what we can expect in the Lunar New Year of the Ox. Speakers Rajiv Biswas (Moderator), Asia-Pacific Chief Economist, IHS Markit https://ihsmarkit.com/experts/biswas-rajiv.html Todd Lee, Chief China Economist, IHS Markit https://ihsmarkit.com/experts/lee-todd.html Yating Xu, Senior Economist, IHS Markit https://ihsmarkit.com/experts/yating-xu.html Lei Yi, Economist, IHS https://ihsmarkit.com/experts/yi-lei.html Read more about the links between economic recovery and consumer spend in China https://ihsmarkit.com/research-analysis/chinas-consumer-market-recovery-under-covid19-pandemic.html

One of the many fallouts from the Covid-19 pandemic is disruptions to global supply chains. As we start to restructure supply chains, our Sub Saharan Africa team digs into what this could mean for the region. At first blush, SSA seems unlikely to benefit from this diversification drive. However, under the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) there will be some opportunities. Natznet Tesfay (Moderator), Executive Director, Africa, Economics & Country Risk, IHS Markit https://ihsmarkit.com/experts/tesfay-natznet.html Thea Fourie, Team Lead Sub-Saharan Africa Economics, IHS Markit https://ihsmarkit.com/experts/fourie-thea.html Archbold Macheka, Economist, Sub Saharan Africa, IHS Markit https://ihsmarkit.com/experts/macheka-archbold.html William Farmer, Analyst, Sub-Saharan Africa, IHS Markit https://ihsmarkit.com/experts/farmer-william.html Alisa Strobel, Senior Economist, Sub-Saharan Africa, IHS Markit IHS Markit https://ihsmarkit.com/experts/strobel-alisa.html Dr. Marie Lechler, Data Analytics Principal, Applied Intelligence, IHS Markit https://ihsmarkit.com/experts/lechler-maria.html

In today's episode, we explore the operational, security, and political challenges Latin American countries will face as they roll out their vaccine programs. Our analysts, Lindsay Newman, Ewa Oliveira da Silva, Rafael Amiel, and Johanna Marris, address the health crisis, the economic constraints and impacts, and the political and security issues that could stand in the way of both health and economic recovery. Dr. Lindsay Newman, Director, Economics & Country Risk, IHS Markit https://ihsmarkit.com/experts/newman-lindsay.html Moderator Ewa Oliveira da Silva, Senior Analyst, Life Sciences, IHS Markit https://ihsmarkit.com/experts/oliveira-da-silva-ewa.html Health crisis for the region- the timeline, the supply risks, and unknowns about the vaccines themselves. Rafael Amiel, Director, Latin America & Caribbean Economics, IHS Markit https://ihsmarkit.com/experts/amiel-rafael.html Economic constraints that governments are facing to procure these vaccines. What options are available to them? Johanna Marris, Senior Country Risk Analyst, Latin America, IHS Markit https://ihsmarkit.com/experts/marris-johanna.html

While bank defaults are not uncommon in Mainland China, a few recent defaults have triggered a strong response. What makes these different? Well, it's not the size of the default but rather the high-profile nature of the companies themselves that has created a stir. In today's episode, our experts from our China economics and banking risk teams, Rajiv Biswas, Angus Lam, Yating Xu, and Lei Yi, discuss implications of these recent bond defaults and the impact on the wider global banking sector. Read more about recent bond defaults in China: https://ihsmarkit.com/research-analysis/chinas-bond-defaults.html Rajiv Biswas, Chief Asia Pacific Economist https://ihsmarkit.com/experts/biswas-rajiv.html Angus Lam, Senior Economist, Banking Risk https://ihsmarkit.com/experts/lam-angus.html Yating Xu, Principal Economist, China https://ihsmarkit.com/experts/yating-xu.html Lei Yi, Economist, China https://ihsmarkit.com/experts/yi-lei.html

With the worst economic contraction in recent history (-1.5%) in 2020, the Asia Pacific region is poised for 5.7% y/y growth in 2021—that is, assuming we see a successful vaccine roll out and a slowing in Covid-19 cases. But, recovery is not without its bumps. 2021 promises to be a year of uncertainty and the of pace of the recovery will be differentiated across the region. Join our Chief Asia Pacific Economist, Rajiv Biswas, in today's episode to gain an understanding of the regional economic recovery. He provides a deep look at China, Japan, and India; discusses sector recovery; and most critically, provides his analysis of the impact the restructuring of the manufacturing supply chain will have on future growth. Rajiv Biswas https://ihsmarkit.com/experts/biswas-rajiv.html

In today's episode, our pricing and purchasing experts, John Anton, John Mothersole, and Sophie Malin discuss the continued shortages being felt across material production and labor markets due to Covid-19 lockdowns and disease progression. John Mothersole talks about the growing frustrations being felt due to consistent disruptions across mining, lumber, and more critically semiconductors which will have a knock-on effect on additional industries. When the conversation turns to disruptions to cargo and air shipping, Sophie offers her analysis on global labor shortages – specifically the differences in demand for labor in service industries vs manufacturing and construction. And of course, no discussion can be complete without discussing issues around illness, priority access to vaccines, and policy. John Mothersole https://ihsmarkit.com/experts/mothersole-john.html John Anton https://ihsmarkit.com/experts/anton-john.html Sophie Malin https://ihsmarkit.com/experts/malin-sophie.html Register for Geostrategy 2021 here: https://ihsmarkit.com/events/2021-geopolitical-conference/overview.html

We have entered 2021 with the pandemic still in full swing. While many of us held out hope for an end to the disease spread and a fast effective vaccination roll-out, its not our current reality. Gustav Ando, who runs our Life Sciences practice, provides us with answers to the questions we are all asking: What don't we know about the vaccines, what we do know about the the new new strains of the disease, and what's really happening with the roll out of the vaccines. Did you enjoy the podcast? We are covering this with our COVID-19 R&D Tracker: Vaccine rollouts, dosing controversies and new strains here: https://ihsmarkit.com/research-analysis/covid19-rd-tracker-vaccine-rollouts-dosing-controversies-strain.html Register for Geostrategy 2021 here: https://ihsmarkit.com/events/2021-geopolitical-conference/overview.html

In our first pricing focused podcast of 2021, John Anton talks about the very tumultuous steel market. While demand not back to pre-pandemic levels, prices are higher. And while this is not just the case for steel, it's particularly bad for steel with prices 30-50% higher than they were in August of 2020. John talks through the current state, why, and when buyers should start to feel a little relief. John Anton, Associate Director, Pricing and Purchasing, IHS Markit https://ihsmarkit.com/experts/anton-john.html Geostrategy 2021 Virtual Conference | 2-3 February https://ihsmarkit.com/events/2021-geopolitical-conference/overview.html