The trend of shifting supply chains from China as a result of the coronavirus pandemic caused 12% of export companies in Poland to indicate that they are interested in, or will be involved in this process with state support, according to a survey conducted by the Polish Economic Institute (PIE) “Polish exporters during the COVID-19 pandemic”.
14% of exporters indicated that during the pandemic they managed to take over supplies to Germany from other directions. This was certainly helped by: price competitiveness, flexibility in adjusting production and seeking new recipients, as well as global trends in shortening supply chains. On the other hand, 12% of companies indicated that they are interested in, or will be involved, with state support, in the process of shifting supply chains from China, according to the report.
The study shows that in 2021, which was still the year of the pandemic, the decrease in the number of orders turned out to be the most severe, although it was slightly lower than in 2020.
The problems of many companies also resulted from production and transport disruptions at subcontractors, as well as new sanitary requirements introduced in connection with the pandemic.
The study emphasized that the export industry is stable in terms of structure, business motives and strategy, and the changes taking place in this group of entrepreneurs are slow.
An example is the dominance of the price way of competing in the business strategies of companies. The advantage that has been sustained for years is slowly decreasing, while the importance of non-price competition – for example, caring for the quality of products – is increasing. It seems that the trend of non-price competition will accelerate. This is indicated by a sudden change. what has happened in terms of the perception of labor costs.
In 2021, for the first time in the history of the survey, most companies began to perceive the impact of labor costs negatively, and the percentage of companies expressing this opinion increased by 22% compared to 2020, also reported.
The Institute also points out that the importance of non-price competition is growing among Polish exporters – e.g. with quality and advertising.
Polish exporters compete primarily with price, but the importance of non-price competition (e.g. quality and advertising) is growing. This is a slow, but the most important change in the strategy taking place in the activities of Polish exporters. Enterprises with low and medium-low technology level dominate. Every fourth company surveyed in 2021 (25.9%) is an exporter of technologically advanced products, ie representing high or medium-high technology.
PIE reported that exporting companies have not shown interest in investing in foreign markets for years. In 2021, only 5% of companies declared such actions.
Enterprises included in the industrial processing section and conducting export activities participated in the “Survey of exporters 2021” study. 170 respondents answered the questionnaire, which constituted 28.3% of the companies to which it was addressed.
Source: Polish Economic Institute and ISBnews
