Daily Update — April 28, 2025
Supply Chain Risk Trends; The Materials Transition; and Responding to Datacenter Growth
Today is Monday, April 28, 2025, and here’s your curated selection of Essential Intelligence on global markets from S&P Global. Subscribe to be notified of each new Daily Update.
Global Trade
Supply-Chain Risk Trends — A Credit Perspective Update
Over the past two years, supply chain pressures have significantly decreased, contributing to a general decline in inflation. The GEP Global Supply Chain Volatility Index has remained below 0 for most of this period, indicating reduced volatility due to the underutilization of supply chain lines. The recent announcement of global tariffs, however, raises concerns about greater economic and supply chain uncertainty. The tariffs are expected to result in input shortages, delivery delays, rising costs and inventory buildups, which could further strain cash flow and increase leverage for businesses.
Significant corporate commitments to US manufacturing investments were announced alongside US tariffs earlier this month. While some of these investments predate the changes in trade policy, the likelihood of supply chain shifts increases in response to high and persistent tariff rates. Such changes often require substantial financial investments and can take years to implement, necessitating confidence in the stability of global trade conditions.
Explore S&P Global Market Intelligence’s Supply Chain Console to get comprehensive supply chain intelligence.
Energy Transition & Sustainability
The Materials Transition Quest: Enabling a sustainable energy transition with carbon-based materials
The energy transition is a crucial global initiative aimed at reducing reliance on fossil fuels and combating climate change. As the shift toward renewable energy sources and electric vehicles continues, it is important to recognize that this transition not only involves changes in energy sources, but materials that support these advancements. While the goal is to decrease oil consumption, the move toward sustainable energy and mobility may require more oil-derived materials for various applications, meaning oil demand is expected to remain stable.
As the energy transition unfolds, a significant materials transition is taking place, fueled by the need for new, more sustainable materials.
Artificial Intelligence
Bits and Bytes: Responding to datacenter demand growth
As AI adoption expands globally through large language models, cloud services, inferencing and network hubs, more energy-intensive datacenters are needed to meet demand. Regions are taking different approaches on how to build this infrastructure, with plans for new hubs being announced regularly.
Kelly Morgan, AI and datacenter research director of S&P Global Market Intelligence 451 Research, joined hosts Hill Vaden and Sam Humphreys on this week's episode of the “EnergyCents” podcast to discuss how many proposed datacenters will be realized and what effect new technologies such as DeepSeek will have on these plans as AI becomes more efficient.
In case you missed it
- Recent market volatility caused by shifts in US trade tariff policies could slow down European IPO activity in 2025.
- Saudi Arabia's long-term economic growth will increasingly rely on the metals and mining sector. This development is in line with the country’s Vision 2030 program, which aims to diversify the Saudi Arabian economy from oil.
- The Turkish central bank hiked rates at its April 17 monetary policy meeting, following intense volatility in its domestic financial market toward the end of March and amid potential risks to disinflation.
Upcoming events
- Analyzing the Material Impacts of Recent Policy Developments | April 30 (Webinar)
- Sustainable1 Summit 2025 | April 30 (In-person: London) and June 26 (In-person: Singapore)
- EU/US Tariffs Showdown: Consequences and Alternatives for the European Trade Landscape | May 14 (Webinar)