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Focus: World Trade - despite a sudden interruption, global value chains still have a bright future

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, global trade has been dragged down by numerous factors. However, as tight border controls begin to ease and producers begin to adapt, the good news is that global value chains still have a bright future.

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Focus: COVID-19 swings the spotlight back onto emerging countries’ debt

While the focus, so far, has mainly been on China, Europe and the United States, the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic are likely to be even more severe in emerging economies.

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Focus: Can China shield its economy from the impact of COVID-19?

China will likely miss its 2020 growth target due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the global economy.

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Country & Sector Risk Barometer: Q1 2020 Quarterly Update

COVID-19: heading towards a sudden global surge in corporate insolvencies

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Poland Payment Survey: reduced payment delays, but a challenging outlook

Despite the economic slowdown, Coface’s latest survey on business payments in Poland shows that payment delays have systematically shortened since 2017 - but the impact of the coronavirus epidemic on the Polish economy remains to be seen.

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Country & Sector Risk Barometer: Q4 2019 Quarterly Update

World trade in the face of political and environmental change.

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Country risk assessment map - february 2020

New edition of the country risk map. Consult, download and print the map of the 161 countries assessed by Coface.

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Sector risk assessment map - february 2020

13 major sectors assessed worldwide. Coface assessments are based on 70 years of Coface expertise and on the financial data published by listed companies from 6 geographical sectors. 5 financial indicators are taken into account: turnover, profitability, the net debt ratio, cashflow, and claims observed by our risk managers.

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Corporate insolvencies in France: fewer in number, larger in size

Corporate insolvencies fell by 3.3% in France during the first ten months of the year. After a difficult first quarter, due in particular to the repercussions of the “yellow vest” movement, they have been steadily declining since May 2019. As a result, the number of corporate insolvencies is expected to decline over the full year, for the fourth consecutive time. However, Coface expects a slight rebound of insolvencies in 2020 (+0.9%), for around 52,000 proceedings, mainly due to the expected slowdown in the construction sector that was largely driven by public works in 2019.

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The global automotive industry and enhanced regulations: a very steep path ahead

The global auto sector is facing several challenges including enhanced and stricter regulations against environmental risks in the context of a slowdown of the global economy.

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Germany Payment Survey 2019: Turn of the tide

This is the third edition of Coface’s survey on payment experience in Germany, done this summer, with 442 participating companies located in Germany. Our survey highlights that Germany is in a changing phase. The pressure on companies due to international competition is getting stronger. This is one of the reasons why German companies have increased their average credit period from 29.8 days to 35.9 days between 2017 and 2019.

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Eurozone economic slowdown: Evidence from Coface’s activity indicators

Since the start of 2019, the signals warning of a slowdown in world growth have multiplied. While all economists agree on this downward trend, following the cyclical peak reached in 2017, there is now a question mark as to the scale of this slowdown, especially in the eurozone. While some commentators are suggesting the likelihood of a recession in 2020, most economists are predicting “only” a slight downturn.

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Global outlook for the agri-food sector within a protectionist environment

The agri-food sector (alongside the ICT sector), has been at the heart of the global trade war, aggravated by the fact that China’s retaliation measures have often targeted US soybean imports. As a consequence, the US agri-food sector, notably American soybean exporters are negatively impacted by this situation.

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Sector risk assessment map - October 2019

13 major sectors assessed worldwide. Coface assessments are based on 70 years of Coface expertise and on the financial data published by listed companies from 6 geographical sectors. 5 financial indicators are taken into account: turnover, profitability, the net debt ratio, cashflow, and claims observed by our risk managers.

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Country risk assessment map - October 2019

New edition of the country risk map. Consult, download and print the map of the 161 countries assessed by Coface.

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Global economy in 2020: general slowdown despite the action of central banks

As usual, many political events marked the summer: another episode of the Argentine exchange rate crisis, an unexpected change of government in Italy, major demonstrations in Hong Kong and Russia, an ever more challenging continuation of the “Brexit” process and an attack on oil installations in Saudi Arabia.

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Netherlands: What is the secret of Dutch trade?

In 2018, the Netherlands were the sixth-largest goods exporter in the world. In the service-exports category, the Dutch placed eighth in 2015. Considering exports relative to GDP, the Netherlands took third place in 2015 (right behind Ireland and Switzerland). However, times have changed...

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CEE insolvencies: so far, so good despite an increasingly challenging global economic environment

The Central and Eastern European region has experienced unparalleled growth in the European Union. However, a slowdown is expected in the coming years.

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Coface: A world of trade

Expertise & agility: We believe that trade is the driving force behind value creation and stability on a worldwide scale, but it is a risky and complex world out there. That is why it is our job to help you make the right decisions, so you can get on with growing your business without any disruptions. Because each market is unique, there are two essential dimensions to how we operate: expertise and agility. Our employees are ready, willing and able to assist in more than 100 countries where Coface can support you.

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GCC: tight financial conditions for businesses feed alternative sources of financing

Despite improving economic performances across the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), monetary and financial conditions remain tighter compared with before 2015. Access to financing remains one of the key issues for companies, particularly for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Loan growth in the region has recovered somewhat thanks to higher oil prices, but it remains below its historical average.

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