Two years now since COVID hit and countries are still strictly limiting productivity in an effort to fight the illness, even though it's evident COVID isn't nearly as contagious or severe as it was in the spring of 2020.
COVID measures continue to cause, at best, inconvenience for construction companies needing replacement parts, at worst leaving some much needed machines completely down and out.
China's exports slowed a bit in March while China's imports fell substantially as efforts to limit COVID exposure are slowing down shipping and limiting demand.
China's imports of crude oil tumbled 14% in March and gas imports were the lowest since October of 2020.
Exports - a major driver of the economy - rose 14.7% in March, beating analyst expectations for a 13% rise, although slowing from a 16.3% gain in January-February.
Industry analysts believe it's only going to get worse, especially with the massive lockdown happening in Shanghai, China.
The war in Ukraine is also causing shipping delays.
