If an epidemic or pandemic, such as COVID-19, disrupts the worldwide economy, or if similar widespread disease outbreaks occur in the future, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be negatively affected to the extent such event harms the economy or region in which we operate.
Our business could be materially and adversely affected by the occurrence of a widespread health epidemic or pandemic. In particular, any outbreak or resurgence of COVID-19 or any other future variants, or governmental imposition of mandatory or voluntary closures in areas where our manufacturing facilities, suppliers or customers are located, could severely disrupt our operations and result in (a) plant slowdowns or shutdowns, (b) difficulty obtaining necessary supplies, and (c) reduced customer orders and revenues. In addition to this potential direct impact on our facilities and operations, continuing outbreaks of the virus could negatively impact our industry and end markets as a whole, or result in a longer-term economic recession. Any of these factors could negatively affect our business, financial condition, cash flows, profitability, and results of operations.
Pandemics have had and may continue to create inefficiencies or interruptions in the supply chain as our suppliers may be forced to close their own plants or prove unable to obtain their own raw materials. If our suppliers are unable to timely meet our supply needs, it could impact our ability to provide our customers with high quality products on a timely basis, which could result in order cancellations, delivery refusals, price concessions, or other negative customer outcomes, any of which could negatively impact our business, revenues, financial condition, results of operations and liquidity. We could also be forced to pay higher prices for the supplies we purchase, which could negatively impact our results of operations and profitability.