התעשייה הגרמנית ממשיכה לפעול ולייצר במסגרת המגבלות הקיימות במהלך המשבר. כאשר ענפי הפארמה, המזון והציוד הרפואי נמצאים בחזית המאבק ואף הגדילו את הייצור.
מזון וחקלאות
“סופרמרקטים בגרמניה לא ניסגרו ולא נראה שיהיו בעיות בייצור מזון” הצהירה שרת החקלאות הגרמנית ג’וליה קלקנר. בינתיים, ברמה האירופית, גורמים רשמיים מחפשים דרכים לפשט את הובלות המזון בין הגבולות.
למרות מגיפת ה- COVID-19, גרמניה לא תחווה פער באספקת המזון או בעליית המחירים. זה היה המסר ששרת החקלאות ג’וליה קלקנר (CDU) שנשלחה במסיבת העיתונאים שהתקיימה לאחרונה בברלין .
היא הוסיפה כי סקטור החקלאות ממשיך לפעול כרגיל ולא היו צווארי בקבוק במזון בסיסי, בשרשראות האספקה או במזון לבעלי חיים. גם רשתות האספקה החוצות גבולות נשארות על כנה.
“אספקת המזון בשבועות ובחודשים הקרובים מאובטחת”, אמר יואכים רוקוויד, נשיא איגוד החקלאים הגרמני (DBV), שנכח אף הוא. גרמניה מספקת את עצמה באספקת מרבית המזונות הבסיסיים, הדגיש. דרגת ההסתפקות העצמית בחיטה היא 117%, לתפוחי אדמה 148% ולמזון לבעלי חיים 119%.
להלן סבב ידיעות חדשותיות בנושא השפעות על התעשיות הגרמניות הגדולות ביותר במדד DAX:
Here is a round of news with impacts on some of the biggest German Industries in the DAX index:
SAP
SAP is quickly developing the reporting portal for
a corona return campaign. Old system was
not suitable – software company stepped in – new system was created in 23 hours.
new registration portal to bring German citizens
stranded abroad back home via an airlift. It is already online at www.rueckholprogramm.de.
The insurer
Allianz is reacting to the current corona problem and has set up a free medical
telephone service for customers in the field of private health insurance. This
should be available to customers with questions and advice on the corona virus.
The service is mapped under the APKV service “Doc on Call”. Customers
could call there around the clock. This also applies to customers with
additional policies. “Doc on Call” is a component of the health
insurer’s offer and is intended to provide guidance to the insured in the
current precarious situation. In addition, the medical practices could be
relieved. Customers can find the offer in the Allianz health app.
Siemens is opening its
3D printing network to enable the rapid production of parts and spare parts for
medical devices needed in the corona crisis. It is an international trading
platform for 3D printing capacities that connects different companies. Siemens
is now making 120 printers available there for needs in connection with the
corona crisis. Other companies that are already on the platform could follow. Siemens also offers the help of its engineers. For
example, if a doctor needed a ventilator spare part that was not available,
they might be able to print it. Larger quantities are also conceivable if, for
example, special parts were missing for the manufacture of respirators or
breathing masks.
Siemens is opening its 3D printing network to
enable the rapid production of parts and spare parts for medical devices needed
in the corona crisis.
Bayer
According to recent study results, the active
ingredient chloroquine could act against the coronavirus. According to the
daily newspaper “Die Welt”, the drug chloroquine will be tested
against corona diseases in the coming week. Chloroquine,
which is actually used against malaria, apparently also works against numerous
viruses – including SARS-CoV-2. And
apparently, the active ingredient has already been shown to be effective
against SARS-CoV-2 in Chinese clinical studies. The drug chloroquine has been marketed for
over 60 years by the Leverkusen-based pharmaceutical and agrochemical company
Bayer under the name Resochin.
Hand disinfectants are currently very difficult to
get. Therefore, the chemical company BASF in Schwarzheide is planning
production in response to bottlenecks in the corona crisis. BASF is already
producing the appropriate funds at the group headquarters in Ludwigshafen. The
rbb had previously reported. BASF-Schwarzheide
wants to produce disinfectants for the regional environment. The company was therefore in exchange with the crisis
team of the state and the district to create a priority list for the need for
disinfection protection.
Adidas no longer wants to pay rent for its stores. It is more than questionable that one of the most valuable brands in the world is no longer liquid enough to meet its obligations. Adidas in Germany will cause some landlords serious difficulties, provoke imitators and trigger a cascade of non-payment.
Deutsche Telekom has announced that, in response to the increasing spread of
the new type of corona virus in Germany, additional data volume will be made
available free of charge to all mobile customers. From now on, until further
notice, all mobile phone customers who have booked one of the Magenta tariffs
will receive an additional 10 gigabytes of data volume per month. In addition,
they want to give all private customers the opportunity to use the Disney +
service free of charge for six months.
Daimler
The car manufacturer Daimler has applied for
short-time work for a large part of its employees due to the corona crisis. The
board of directors and the general works council of the company had decided
that. The short-time work should come into force on April 6th and for the time
being until April 17th. The company is responding to the drop in demand.
The measure therefore affects a large part of the
production and selected administrative areas, both car, van and commercial
vehicle plants in Germany. Necessary basic functions as well as future topics
and strategic projects are excluded. The specific form of short-time work is
now regulated in local company agreements, which would be concluded together
with the works council. Therefore, there are still no concrete figures, said a
company spokeswoman.
Volkswagen has decided to extend the
production break by four days. It is valid until April 9th. Around 80,000 VW employees in Germany receive short-time
work allowance, which the company increases from the normal 60 or 67 percent
(for employees with children) of the net wage to almost 100 percent. These
supplements are based on collective agreements. For around 80,000 Volkswagen AG employees, an extension
of short-time work is being applied for, it was said. It is planned to end the
short-time work with the night shift from April 9 to April 10.
BMW
BMW also wants to use its own company agreements
for short-time work. Other instruments
are the use of working time accounts and the possibility of working from home.
Henkel has announced a “global solidarity program” in the fight against the corona virus. This should benefit employees, customers and communities affected by the pandemic, according to a statement. Accordingly, Henkel is donating two million euros to various aid funds and organizations to help fight the pandemic. The company has also announced that it will donate five million personal and household hygiene products worldwide. These include hand disinfectants, soap and protective equipment as well as detergents, disinfectants and other household cleaners. They also plan to manufacture disinfectants at selected locations themselves. The products are intended to help public institutions and professional groups in the fight against the corona virus. Henkel also plans to examine how smaller and medium-sized hair salons can offer improved payment terms.
EON
Eon is taking radical measures to rule out a risk to the power supply. Employees would soon go into a kind of voluntary quarantine – close to their workplaces and possibly without contact with the outside world. For example, to protect against infection, the teams in the network centers would be separated. The employees there are even ready to “live and work under barrack-like solutions,”
Fresenius
Fresenius is concerned that the situation in the coronavirus crisis will worsen. In Germany, Europe’s largest private hospital group operates 86 hospitals under the Helios brand. They are currently treating a “low three-digit number” of patients suffering from Covid-19. Almost 1,000 of the approximately 28,000 intensive care beds in Germany are currently in the Helios clinics. “We may not be able to double the number, but we will increase it considerably,” said Sturm. “We are working on converting operating rooms to intensive care units as needed and are trying to purchase additional ventilators.” In addition, the group can move personnel and equipment to where the need is greatest in the event of a crisis, said Sturm. Hygiene items such as masks and gloves are sufficiently available. “We ordered and received relatively large quantities relatively early on. I don’t see any bottlenecks at the moment,” said Sturm.
Lufthansa and Eurowings are introducing additional regulations to ensure the
physical distance between passengers during their trip. From March 27, 2020,
neighboring seats on board in Economy Class and Premium Economy Class will be
blocked on all flights from Germany and remain free. This also applies to
domestic German flights. This rule does not apply to flights to Germany because
the return of as many people as possible to their home country has top
priority. In addition, all Lufthansa and Eurowings flights at domestic German
airports will now only be positioned at building positions wherever this is
possible due to the existing airport infrastructure and official regulations.
This is how passengers should avoid bus trips. Where this is not possible in
the short term, twice as many buses have been used for a few days as usual.
The Hamburg-based cosmetics group Beiersdorf has
donated 6,000 liters of disinfectant to the Hamburg fire brigade and the
University Medical Center Eppendorf (UKE). Due to the shortage caused by the
corona crisis, the company announced last week that it would start producing
disinfectant solutions in Hamburg-Eimsbüttel, in Waldheim in Saxony and in Tres
Cantos near Madrid. The first 500 tons are
to be donated to public institutions and emergency services.
Pharmaceutical giants join forces against
Covid-19
Leading manufacturers want to ensure that suitable
medicines can be developed more quickly. Novartis and Merck are included.
A new alliance of leading pharmaceutical companies
is forming in the fight against the new corona virus. 15 international
manufacturers want to join forces to advance the development of drugs, vaccines
and diagnostic tools. The group includes
Novartis (Switzerland), Sanofi (France), Glaxo-Smithkline (Great Britain) and
the US companies Eli Lilly, Merck & Co, Johnson & Johnson and Gilead.
From Germany there are Boehringer Ingelheim and Merck KGaA from Darmstadt.
First, the companies want to open and share their
internal molecular databases for external use. This is a remarkable step, as
these are one of the treasures of every pharmaceutical company. But the main
thing is to bundle molecules and active ingredients that have already shown a
certain effectiveness in the treatment of the lung disease Covid-19 – and that
have an initial safety profile. The latter
is crucial for the rapid use of active ingredients and combinations. Because
before new medicines and vaccines can be used, it is not only necessary to
prove their effectiveness. The possible side effects must also be clear,
especially if some agents are used at the same time.
Drägerwerk AG & Co.
Dräger received an order for 10,000 ventilators from the German government. The delivery of the order will stretch across the entire year and requires a substantial increase of the production capacity in Lübeck. In addition, Dräger will deliver personal protection equipment for hospital staff to the German government. Both will help to assure the functionality of the health care system in the case of a further spreading of the Corona virus. The orders will have a positive effect on Dräger’s economic situation and earnings. Currently, the magnitude of the effect on the company after considering all associated costs and risks cannot yet be safely assessed.