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China Payment Survey 2020: Payment delays will increase further because of COVID-19

In the context of weaker activity in China due to the health crisis, Coface’s latest survey on business payments in China shows a deterioration in payment behaviour in 2019.
66% of surveyed companies reported payment delays. The length of payment delays remained stable at 86 days in 2019. Nevertheless, sectors that have been hit the most by lockdown measures will have to delay payments in order to survive in 2020 and the number of corporate insolvencies should increase.

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

Early 2020 marked by a sudden interruption in world trade, hampered by a global recession and soaring uncertainty

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Corona crisis and its consequences

At the moment, reliable forecasts of how the corona pandemic and the economy will affect the global, continental and national economies are hardly possible. The parameters are changing too fast. Nevertheless, the economists at Coface are of course also observing and analysing the development very precisely.

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

While the focus has mainly been on China, Europe and the USA so far, the consequences of the Coronavirus pandemic are likely to be even more severe in emerging countries.

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

Due to the current coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and its impact on the global economy, it is unlikely that China will be able to achieve its 2020 growth target. Coface forecasts a growth rate of 4% for the Chinese economy in 2020.

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Coface Barometer: COVID-19 - heading towards a sudden global surge in business insolvencies

At first, the COVID-19 epidemic in China only affected a limited number of value chains – but it has since turned into a global pandemic. Its repercussions have created a double shock – supply and demand – that is affecting a large number of industries in all over the world.

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Corona and the economy

The corona crisis is spreading to our entire world - the year 2020 will face the global economy with a challenging situation that is threatening the maintenance of a solid economic growth. Although drastic actions have largely been taken in Europe to reduce the spread of the corona virus, WHO estimates that COVID-19 will continue to spread worldwide.

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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 outbreak on the Polish economy remains to be seen.

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Political and environmental risks are the main threats facing businesses in 2020

As Coface launches the 2020 edition of its Country & Sector Risks Handbook, Chief Economist Julien Marcilly today presents the main threats for the global economy in 2020 at the Coface Country Risk Conference in Paris.

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Coface cuts bureaucracy / Relief for customers with regard to obligations in the Vienna Credit Insurance

The international credit insurer Coface is temporarily relaxing individual contractual provisions for its clients. The deadline for the notification of overdue accounts is extended by 60 days.

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Turkey Payment Survey 2019: better picture in payment term but companies remain cautions regarding economic prospects

Right after the recession that the economy went into during the second half of 2018 the private sector remains mixed in terms of the economic outlook.

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Business failures in France are less frequent, but of a larger size

While the number of companies facing corporate insolvency has decreased since the beginning of the year, their cost has increased, both financially and in terms of the number of jobs affected. After a difficult first quarter, marked by the repercussions of the “yellow vests” movement, the number of corporate insolvencies since the beginning of the year in France is set to decline for the fourth consecutive year. However, Coface expects a slight rebound in insolvencies in 2020 (+0.9%), mainly due to the expected slowdown in the construction sector, which was largely driven by public works in 2019 in the run-up to the municipal elections.

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

Hit by increasingly stringent regulations, particularly for environmental purposes, the global automotive industry is facing a downturn and is being forced to reinvent itself.
In a gloomy global economic context, the automotive sector faces several very specific challenges, including stronger and stricter environmental regulations. As a result, car sales are experiencing negative growth not seen since the Great Recession of 2008 and there is an uncertainty prevailing in the sector.

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Coface publishes CEE Top 500 companies

The international credit insurance company presents its eleventh annual study on the biggest 500 companies in Central and Eastern Europe – the Coface CEE Top 500. It ranks businesses by their turnover and additionally analyses further facts such as the number of employees, the framework of the companies, sectors and markets as well as the new Coface company credit assessments. The economic development of the CEE Top 500 is representative of the market trend in the entire region.

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2019 survey on company payments in Germany: turn of the tide

85% of companies report longer payment terms in 2019 vs 2017

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Coface Barometer: general slowdown in the global economy despite central banks’ actions

With business morale being affected by a summer marked by a multiplication of areas of political uncertainty around the world, it seems likely that 2020 will be a year of economic decline.

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The "Made in Russia" strategy: a limited instrument for economic diversification

Faced with fluctuations in hydrocarbon prices and economic sanctions from Western countries, Russia has developed a strategy that favours "Made in Russia" - but the results have remained mixed.

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Netherlands: What is the secret of Dutch trade?

Rising protectionism in China and the United States, Brexit, contracting world trade... despite all the clouds on the horizon, the Dutch economy remains surprisingly bright.

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Insolvencies in Central and Eastern Europe: despite an increasingly difficult global economic context, the situation remains positive

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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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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