How pandemics, wars and disasters jeopardize global trade

Pandemics, wars and natural disasters jeopardize trade and supply chain security. Even in the best of times, international supply chains often lack the necessary transparency, especially when it comes to poor working and environmental conditions.

Two ways to counteract these problems are to produce more products locally, or to exert more control over supply chains. The Cologne-based timber company Betterwood, which transports sustainable wood from Peru to Germany, shows how this can be done. Or the pharmaceutical company Sandoz, which is the only plant in Europe that still produces penicillin.

For decades, the rainforest in Peru has been destroyed by people illegally clearing it for farming and grazing land. Catherine Körting wanted to change this. She found a way to contribute to the preservation of the rainforest by selling tropical timber. With her company Betterwood, she sells fair-trade and controlled tropical timber in Germany. Together with her partner companies in Peru, she ensures that only as many trees are felled as the ecosystem can bear. She knows exactly where the wood is felled and by whom. She keeps track of those who store the wood and ship it from Peru to the warehouse near Cologne. "Our traceability extends from the standing tree to the final destination," she says.

Shortages in the supply of medicines have become increasingly common in recent years. When vital medicines are no longer available, the negative consequences of relying on long supply chains become apparent. Most antibiotics sold in Germany now come from Asia. Many pharmaceutical companies have moved their production there for cost reasons.

The pharmaceutical company Sandoz is different. It produces penicillin in Kundl, Austria - the last manufacturer in Europe. Austrian government subsidies of 50 million euros for the production of active ingredients were an important step towards ensuring security of supply for the whole of Europe. Millions of units of the valuable antibiotics are produced in the plant’s huge halls. And the company continues to grow: in the future, it should be possible to supply the entire European market with penicillin from Sandoz.