For us in the West, Russia's trade and cooperation with North Korea is not viewed positively. That Russia is also supported by China means that now the actions of a trio of countries is leading to rearmament in the West. Another Cold War is not in anyone’s interests, and the world does not want it back, even though it actually created greater international stability than we experience today. 

But enough about war and economics. PDi may be about destruction but not in the way that a war destroys. As I stated at the beginning, many markets are experiencing a general tightening and decline. At least that is what different types of media tell in their news feeds. But when you start to scratch the surface and check what is actually backing up these claims, it is rather the opposite that applies in much of Europe, the USA and in India for example. If you talk to business people, as I often do, many testify that they have as much work on as they can deal with. They have so much work that the resources available are not enough and there is a need for new investment in personnel, training, machinery and consumables. 

As I am Swedish, and am located in Stockholm, I of course hear a lot from players in the Swedish demolition and underground mining industries. I also get a lot of input from the suppliers confirming that end customers are fully employed. But, and this is a big but, they're not investing enough. Slowly but surely, the pent up need for new machines, tools and consumables, personnel and further training is getting bigger and bigger. This is what is happening in Sweden. When the economy catches up, which means that the end users, i.e. the contractors, the rental companies and more, dare to start buying again, there is a risk that we will end up in a situation with delivery problems. During periods when investment decreases or stops altogether, manufacturers are of course forced to find ways to keep their costs down. They reduce the production rate or pause production completely, buy no or fewer spare parts and so on. Then when the market turns, it takes time to turn the whole production process again with big delays as a result, with this happening in several stages.

In Sweden, if I take this small country as an example, we have overcome inflation that was in double digits not so long ago. Interest rates were raised sharply to overcome this, but since the spring of 2024, things have turned around and inflation is today down to under two percent and seems to under control. The Swedish General Bank has now lowered the key interest rate several times and up to three further reductions can take place during the rest of 2024. If this continues, I think that Sweden is on track again before entering 2025. As I said, the needs are still great. The infrastructure needs to be expanded, we need more apartments and commercial properties, not least hotels in metropolitan areas. So the fact is the world economic situation is not as bleak as it sometimes seems. But we need an end to the wars in Ukraine and Israel/Palestine.