COVID-19: Coronavirus won't affect UAE, China trade for now

CALMING PRESENCE: Transport ministers in attendance during Breakbulk Middle East 2020 in Dubai on Tuesday.

Dubai - There is no impact of coronavirus on trade between the GCC and China but the signs of any impact will appear only in the next quarter, say port operators and global cargo companies.
Khaled Shalha, marketing head for King Abdullah Port, said there has been no impact from coronavirus till now but more clarity will come only in the coming weeks.
He alerted that if it is not contained immediately, its impact will be visible in the second quarter.
"There is no impact of coronavirus yet. But if we have more certainty from medical teams that are working on it, the more people are assured and confident about it. If the diseases is not contained, its affect will be felt in the second quarter. Because now it is not just related to China only but spreading to other countries as well," Shalha added.
Despite the challenges of US-China trade and coronavirus, Shalha expects 2020 to be yet another good year Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah Port.
Onur Yigiter, CEO of AM Steel, says impact of the virus is difficult to forecast because it is spreading fast in other countries but slowing down in China.
"How many countries will have coronavirus tomorrow or in one week time and which companies will not survive as a result of this diseases is very difficult to predict. I believe impact of coronavirus has not yet started in our business but I am afraid it will - at what percentage or how much is difficult to estimate," Yigiter said on the sidelines of Breakbulk Middle East 2020 exhibition.  
Global institutions such as International Monetary Fund and World Trade Organisation has already issued alerts about impact of coronavirus on the global trade industry, cutting global GDP and trade growth forecasts.
Earlier on Tuesday, Dr. Abdullah Belhaif Al Nuaimi, the UAE Minister of Infrastructure Development and Chairman of the Federal Transport Authority (FTA) for Land and Maritime, inaugurated the Breakbulk Middle East 2020 exhibition.
He said the UAE currently accounts for 35 per cent of investment in the maritime region and has invested over Dh157 billion into expanding local ports here.
Morten Berg Thomsen, head of special cargo for West and Central Asia at Maersk, said the logistics giant is monitoring any impact of the pandemic.
"We do not know yet the impact of the virus, but we are of course monitoring the situation closely and will continue to adjust our network and capacity accordingly," he said.
-waheedabbas@khaleejtimes.com