Page 3 - Al-Rashed Newsletter December 2020

MARKET OUTLOOK

MR. PRADEEP MENON- CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER

Much of the uncertainty is related to the global economy and how long this coronavirus pandemic will last. According to
the IMF’s latest forecast, China is the only major global economy expected to record GDP growth this year while other
markets hope for a significant bounce back in 2021 assuming that the pandemic will be brought under control and
economies return to something like normal.

Any new pandemic waves can further disrupt supply chains, and economies might go in for a steeper decline. The
pandemic has sent shockwaves through supply chains, shipping networks and ports, leading to plummeting cargo
volumes and foiling growth prospects.

The short-term outlook for maritime trade is grim. Predicting the pandemic’s longer-term impact and the timing and scale
of the industry’s recovery is fraught with uncertainty.

As a local company involved in all aspects of shipping, any industrial trend in all aspects will have an impact on our
business and profitability.

If you keep a close eye on your cash flow, you will be able to identify the customers you want to work with and eliminate
those who will only end up costing you. As freight rates continue to climb, forwarders should take advantage of any
opportunity they can get to avoid being stuck catering to unreliable clients. This means you will need to actively analyze
your finance and accounting processes for your logistics operations by:
1. Monitoring shipments with negative profits.
2. Flagging customers with bad credit.
3. Instantly access your cash flow records.

Let us hope for a better 2021 and wish everyone a happy, healthy and safe 2021.