Everstream has published its ‘2024 Supply Chain Annual Risk Report’ which looks in detail at what it assesses as the five areas most likely to cause supply chain disruption in the coming year.
The report identifies extreme weather as the top risk to supply chains in 2024, stating that ‘a billion-dollar event occurs every three weeks’.
Everstream believes that difficulties in managing and responding to new environmental regulations are the second highest supply chain risk. ‘Even companies with existing environmental, social, and governance (ESG) policies will feel disruption from growing environmental regulations’, says the report.
Protectionist measures blocking technology is the third highest supply chain risk. Trade wars, particularly between the U.S. and China, are resulting in increasing export controls and sanctions which ‘will force companies to search for new technology suppliers to avoid disruptions’.
The above is followed in fourth place by geopolitical tensions: ‘rising geopolitical instability threatens supply chains more than ever, and Taiwan will be the primary conflict hot spot in 2024’ claims the report.
The fifth risk is focussed on the agricultural sector’s supply chain, with Everstream expecting that suppliers will run out of core agricultural items. ‘Commodity shortages will come to a head this year,’ says the report, ‘due to the culmination of many factors, including high input prices, farm profitability concerns, increasing protectionism, and extreme weather events.’
