Friday, March 29

Danone, Lidl, Mercedes: the domino effect of the transport strike threatens to paralyze the economy


More and more companies are having to reduce their production, stop it or announce that they will not be able to supply their products to points of sale to the public as a result of the transport strike that Spain has been experiencing since March 14. The last to join the list has been Danone, which announced on Tuesday that it will have to stop its production within a maximum period of 24 hours if the situation is not resolved. Other affected companies are Puleva, Central Lechera Asturiana, Lidl, Volkswagen and Ford.

a constant bleed. The strike of carriers is hitting almost all productive sectors, although the automotive, steel and food sectors are being hit with particular virulence. Mercedes has already paralyzed its Victoria factory due to lack of components, and the same has happened with the Volkswagen factory in Navarra. Ford, for its part, has announced that it is going to extend its ERTE in Almussafes (Valencia) due to the lack of supplies, according to Cadena SER.

the food industry. As far as food is concerned, the dairy sector is the one that, at the moment, is being affected the most by the strike. Central Lechera Asturiana has its warehouses at almost 100% occupancy because it is not being able to distribute its products, Puleva has warned that in the next few hours it could stop its production due to a similar problem, and yesterday Danone announced that it could interrupt its activity in less 24 hours for lack of raw materials if the strike continues.

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In addition to dairy, the shortage could also reach fish, since the fleet of several autonomous communities has been partially stopped since last Monday, March 21, the fishermen’s associations announced that they were joining the strike. Thus, around 70% of the Galician fleet, most of the Asturian and all of the Andalusian and Valencian (although in this case it coincides with bad weather) remained moored yesterday, according to reports from Cinco Días.

The meat industry is also beginning to feel the effects of the strike. According to the newspaper Información, the slaughterhouses in Galicia are practically paralyzed because the producers are joining the stoppage and due to the lack of transportation to distribute the meat of the slaughtered animals.

Other companies from different food sectors that have also announced the interruption of their activity have been Calvo, Cuétara or Dcoop (one of the largest olive oil producers in the world). And Heineken, Pastas Gallo or Estrella Galicia have indicated that if the situation is not resolved soon they will not be able to ensure the supply of their products to shops and restaurants in the coming days.

Gasoline, double trouble. Another product that is beginning to be scarce in some parts of Spain is gasoline. The National Association of Automatic Service Stations (AESAE) has said that Andalusia, the Valencian Community and Murcia are already suffering from a lack of fuel. Therefore, the problem of its price increase is now compounded by the lack of supply.

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A perfect storm in the shopping basket: the transport strike adds shortages to inflation

Medical devices. Another sector that shows concern about the strike is the health sector. According to El Periódico de España, some autonomous communities such as Galicia or Andalusia have already reorganized their care activity in the face of a possible shortage of supplies in the near future, although for the time being they point out that there have been no problems in caring for patients derived from shortages.

Worse than in the pandemic. The problems of shortages are increasing and the food sector, as we have seen one of the most affected, has described the situation as very serious this Wednesday. Likewise, he has pointed out that there is a greater danger of shortages than in the harshest phases of the pandemic and that thousands of jobs are at risk if the strike is not resolved, according to El País.

Supermarkets, for their part, have appealed to consumers not to make compulsive purchases to stockpile products massively, since this behavior worsens the situation. According to industry estimates, these large stores are losing 130 million euros a day as a whole because of the strike.

Image | GTRES

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