TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Expectations the United States Federal Reserve will raise interest rates and the emergence of new COVID-19 variants are throwing doubt on economic prospects for next year, Taiwan Cement Corporation (TCC) Chairman Nelson Chang (張安平) said Friday (Dec. 17).

The business leader also named inflation across the world and the rapid spread of the Omicron strain in Europe as factors preventing too much optimism about 2022, CNA reported. Turning to his own industry, Chang said the situation for the cement business in China was negative, with the expected mass return of workers home during the January-February Lunar New Year holiday an added factor.

During 2021, the prices of raw materials and energy rose sharply, and the first half of 2022 was likely to bring further increases in the cost of electricity and coal, directly influencing the cost of doing business, he said. As an example, he cited the price of coal in China having almost quadrupled before falling back, but remaining at a level double the original.