If it’s not raining, it is pouring. Geopolitical plus political crises, inflation, supply-chain bottlenecks, what else could possibly take place this year? Natural disasters.
On August 8, Seoul was hit by some of the heaviest rains in 80 years, eliminating at least nine people. The last time flooding of such degree in the south from the Korean Peninsula was recorded was in 1942.
According to the General Insurance policy Association of Korea, more than 7, 500 car owners claimed compensation designed for flooding or harm to their vehicles, with the total amount of settlement estimated at about ninety-seven. 76 billion won (US$74. 6 million).
As for the stock market, even though the Kosdaq Composite Index remained resistant, Insun ENT , a major total environmental service company, soared by a lot more than 16% in one day.
Besides the economic consequences, the country could face yet another politics crisis. According to a weekly poll , South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol’s approval rating fell 3. 7 percentage points from the week earlier, in order to 29. 3%. The negative assessment associated with Yoon’s conduct of state affairs obtained 3. 3 percent points to 67. 8%. By comparison, the level of public support for US President Joe Biden was 36% within the second half of Come july 1st.
There is no reason to believe that this Korean head of government will step down tomorrow; however , the level of social tension in the country may rise. In a recent study , the International Monetary Fund (IMF) showed that will unrest can have an undesirable economic impact since consumers become spooked by uncertainty plus output is lost in manufacturing and services.
Within China, a yellowish alert was issued on August 10 as Typhoon Mulan, the seventh one particular this year, approached the particular coastal areas of Hainan and Guangdong provinces in southern The far east. The problem is that Hainan is the leading seeds production base within China, and Guangdong is considered the economic plus industrial center from the country. According to formal figures, annual damage from typhoons in China reaches regarding $5. 6 billion.
In European countries, in the meantime, the problem provides exactly the opposite nature. Water levels within the Rhine River are getting close to dangerously low levels. According to new forecasts, Europe’s most important waterway to get inland transport of goods by barge can become impassable any time soon.
Levels below 40 centimeters would mean barges in a key transit point in Germany can no longer pass. Consequently, the European Union could encounter shortages of energy and goods. It is estimated that as much as 10% of all Euro chemical shipments, which includes raw materials, fertilizers, intermediates, and finished chemical substance products, are transferred along the Rhine River.
The Rhine accounts for regarding 28% of Germany’s chemical shipments. According to Kiel Company research , “low drinking water levels lead to transportation disruptions that cause a significant and financially meaningful decrease of economic activity. ” Now the economic influence could be even worse, as supply chains had been already suffering from the Covid-19 pandemic plus geopolitical tensions.