Factories Bounce Back From Covid-19 Hit, Tighter Controls Cloud Outlook

An employee wearing a protective face mask and face guard works on the automobile assembly line as the maker ramps up car production with new security and health measures as a step to resume full operations at Kawasaki factory of Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corp., owned by Germany-based Daimler AG, in Kawasaki, south of Tokyo, Japan, on May 18, 2020. Issei Kato/Reuters

Manufacturers across Europe ended 2020 on a high while Asian factory activity expanded moderately thanks to increased demand in China, surveys showed, but the prospect of tougher coronavirus curbs clouded the outlook for the recovery.

Despite hopes that vaccination programs being rolled out will eventually quell the virus, a resurgence of infections is forcing many countries to reimpose strict controls on economic activity, possibly hurting large exporters such as China and Germany.