Due to the ongoing pandemic in 2020, there have been many changes, not only in the investment field, but also in all aspects of our daily life. This has led to a huge health crisis. With regard to the investment sector, it is worth mentioning that few sectors have benefited more than others from this pandemic. However, when compared to the significant losses caused by this pandemic, such benefits may be negligible.
This crisis has affected many companies around the world, particularly in the service sector, which relies on providing public services such as coffee shops and restaurants, etc. Not only those, but the crisis has also affected many manufacturers' enterprises, forcing them to shut down their factories in some instances.
During this crisis, garment and textile manufacturers suffered and suffered damage. This sector has been hit as a result of the recession. Where individuals just had to stay at home and for reasons such as lockdowns, job cuts, and other administrative measures that were taken to mitigate the effects of this pandemic, there is no trade flow. In addition, the pandemic caused a lot of people to lose their jobs, which is why they were in a bad financial condition, where they could not afford to spend money on buying their needs.
The issue that has led to the global decrease in demand. With regard to the production of clothing, one of the largest exporters of this type of product, China, is worth mentioning. Since the value of the export quantity has decreased significantly, it has reached 1 billion less than the value of the export quantity over the same period last year.
It was not only the production of clothing that was interrupted because of the pandemic, but also the production of cars and heavy trucks. Nevertheless, the manufacturing plans and parts business was one of the most affected manufacturers, as experts estimated losses of about $6 billion in this field.
Pandemic beneficiaries
In the period when global economic growth declined and employers were forced to fire some staff to save themselves from bankruptcy, there were few fields on the other side that produced unexpected profits. In this crisis,for instance, face mask production was the winner and the dark horse, because of the unstoppable demand for those products. One of the biggest manufacturers of face masks was China, which in 2020 exported face masks at a cost of more than $14 billion.
The year of Covid, in other words, the year of gold
This pandemic and the global health crisis have pushed many investors to purchase yellow metal, finding it to be the safest investment in the crisis.
This led to a gold price spike, breaking the high record for gold until it reached $2000 and more for the ounce. The gold trade volume reached 1773 tons with an increased ratio of more than 40 percent compared with the previous year (according to research from the World Gold Council).
The online purchase rise during the pandemic
Many traders tried to provide their commodities to customers online due to the mandatory quarantine, which led to a big change in the mentality of the consumer. This has accelerated the shift towards a more digital world and, even after the end of this pandemic, these changes will have a lasting effect. Thereafter, many individuals will rely on online purchasing as it offers a range of commodities that you can't reach with the old way.
