The lockdown recession is unique in modern times. The pandemic and the widely varying governmental responses to it have raised all sorts of uncertainties on both the supply and demand side of the equation. The shocks occurred like a one-two punch. First came the supply shock, where many fabricators dealt with canceled orders not from lack of demand but because OEMs couldn't get other needed parts for the final product. Some manufacturers were shut down because they weren't deemed essential. Others saw supply shocks from overseas, especially Asia. Then came the second punch, this time on the demand side, as unemployment spiked dramatically. OEMs reacted by reducing or halting orders altogether.
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