ISA report shows the recession will have lesser impact on 2021 than expected

by | 22 July 2020 5:59 pm

According to the International Sign Association’s (ISA’s) Sign Industry Quarterly Economic Report for the second quarter, the outlook for 2020 continues to decline, despite a sharp rebound in the economy earlier this summer.

The report shows the recession was short-lived and will have lesser impact on 2021 than expected.

Still, London, U.K.-based global information provider IHS Markit places a 20 per cent probability on a second wave of COVID-19, which is not factored into a potential recovery.

The report, which is sponsored by the National Association of Sign Supply Distributors (NASSD), assesses four segments of the industry: two supplier markets (printing and electrical/digital signage) and two end markets (electric/digital signage and architectural signage). It also forecasts commodities.

Some highlights of the report include:

• IHS Markit has revised its forecast for global growth in 2020 upward. World real gross domestic product (GDP) is now expected to contract 5.5 per cent this year, followed by a 4.4 per cent recovery in 2021.
• Pricing makes sheet steel a good purchase. Prices are past their bottom and will start to rebound over the second half of the year. As COVID-19 shutdowns ease, demand will partially revive, boosting sheet production and prices.
• In terms of lumber, IHS anticipates slow increases in 2020, with sizable pricing jumps in 2021.
• Business fixed investment is expected to fall 10.3 per cent this year before turning up to 1.3 per cent and 4.8 per cent growth in 2021 and 2022 respectively.
• Commercial construction spending is expected to plummet in 2020, falling 21.2 per cent, with a drop across nearly all components driving the decrease in overall activity.

Source URL: https://www.signmedia.ca/isa-report-shows-the-recession-will-have-lesser-impact-on-2021-than-expected/

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