Impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the international supply chain of Swedish firms and measures to reduce vulnerability. A survey in collaboration with the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise

Abstract

This paper reports on the results of a survey of 3441 Swedish companies soliciting information on supply chain disruptions and responses in the first phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings reveal that 69.5% of Swedish companies that use foreign suppliers experienced supply disruptions during the pandemic. In more than two-thirds of these cases problems persisted at the time the survey was implemented (November 2020). Planned measures to reduce vulnerability to future disruptions include increased inventories, spreading purchases over more suppliers and countries, and increasing domestic or regional sourcing. Only a small share of firms planned to re-shore production. Companies have heterogeneous views on desired state action to reduce vulnerability to future trade disruptions, ranging from calls to keep markets open, to doing more at EU level to coordinate crisis measures, strengthening crisis preparedness, and support for domestic producers through public procurement and finance.