With supply chain volatility now considered a permanent structural condition, businesses are re-evaluating their pursuit of efficiency at all costs. Amit Agarwal, head of trade products and risk distribution at DBS, explains why resilience has become a supply chain priority.
After repeated disruptions since the onset of Covid-19, uncertainty remains a defining feature of the global economy – and even more so in 2026. For global supply chains, the impact of various shocks this year has been acute.
These shocks have been particularly disruptive for the food and agribusiness (F&A) industry. The Asia Pacific region is central to global food systems, producing more than half of the world’s agricultural and fish output. Yet the region faces growing pressures from geopolitical uncertainty, supply chain disruptions and resource constraints. Beyond the direct impact on agri commodities, Asian agribusinesses face elevated risk in shipments and processes, given their reliance on the cross-border flow of oil, fertiliser and related commodities. For example, approximately 63% of Asia’s seaborne sulphur imports – a critical input for fertiliser production – were sourced from the Middle East in 2025. This year’s disruptions have thus left businesses increasingly exposed to cascading supply chain risks.
As the World Economic Forum (WEF) recently summarised, global supply chain volatility has become a permanent, structural condition rather than a temporary shock. With this shift, the notion of supply chain resilience building has become a strategic focus across the world. In a recent WEF survey, 74% of business leaders noted that they now see resilience as a ‘driver of growth’ as opposed to a ‘risk management mechanism’. DBS has seen an increase in businesses seeking financing structures that can adapt quickly to changing supplier relationships, production cycles and sourcing strategies.
Financing the shift to resilience
This focus on resilience has subsequently reduced sole prioritisation of cost efficiency. While of course this remains paramount, businesses are now rethinking their pursuit of such efficiencies at all costs.
“With the most recent supply squeeze, we have seen many clients in Asia placing greater emphasis on supply stability,” says Amit Agarwal, head of trade products and risk distribution at DBS.
He notes that among many of DBS’ F&A clients, the nature of supply contracts has changed significantly in recent months. Contracts with floating rates rather than fixed pricing, yet with fixed volumes, are becoming more common.
“Certainty is taking precedence over price, in the interest of resilience building,” he adds.
This has necessitated a corresponding shift in working capital management – particularly in the F&A industry, where financing alignment with seasonal production cycles and floating price contracts is required. According to Agarwal, these businesses are looking to their banking partners with heightened expectations.
“As contracts are being rewritten with greater frequency, businesses need banks to move at the same pace to structure facilities with new counterparties,” Agarwal explains.
Agility enablers
Against this backdrop is a secondary trend of ‘fragmented liquidity’ conditions in Asia. This can be attributed to multiple factors such as regional central bank measures to control inflation, continued investment in infrastructure development, and growth of the AI sector.
To elaborate, on one hand, the demand for infrastructure and AI is creating downstream opportunities for businesses of all sizes. Yet on the other, demand for financing in growth sectors is increasing competition for capital.
“This has created a challenging liquidity environment for more traditional industries in the region, with borrowing costs rising,” says Agarwal.
In an era where resilience trumps cost minimisation and is able to absorb price inflation due to the aforementioned factors, lenders must be agile to borrowers’ quickly changing needs.
Technology is a critical enabler of such agility. Having invested heavily in digital trade and transaction processing capabilities for years, DBS has continued to enable swift and secure transaction execution and support client growth amid shifting market conditions. For example, its connectivity in both H2H and APIs has enabled the bank to swiftly implement and process new financing solutions to align with production cycles and changing supplier contracts.
Customisation at the heart
Agility, however, is only one factor. Banks themselves should seek to become embedded in clients’ ecosystems as long-term partners, rather than short-term financiers. This can have the knock-on effect of enabling mutual long-term resilience – yet it requires a commitment to continuous customisation.
Only by taking the time to understand a client’s nuances can a bank tailor the right solutions to support an entire ecosystem. For the F&A industry, the need for customisation will only increase along with growing uncertainty. Climate change, for example, is a separate yet real threat that banks should be investing in the capabilities to help mitigate, with customised sustainable trade financing.
The importance of customised financing against this challenging backdrop is becoming increasingly apparent in practice.
“As contracts are being rewritten with greater frequency, businesses need banks to move at the same pace to structure facilities with new counterparties.”
Amit Agarwal, DBS
One recent DBS example of customisation was for global agri commodities group Sucden’s Vietnam-based trading arm. With only six months of harvest each year and complex procurement and cash flow structures, Sucden Vietnam’s supply chain was becoming increasingly exposed to external shocks. DBS responded with pre-shipment financing for smallholder farmers of sustainable coffee, with funding aligned to both seasonal needs and sustainability requirements.
Implementation of this long-term programme has helped strengthen supplier relationships, enhance supply security and support Sucden Vietnam’s sustainability objectives – all of which will help build long-term resilience.
In another example, Godrej Agrovet, an India-based agribusiness focused on sustainable farming practices, sought a digital supplier finance solution for its diverse base of over 1,000 suppliers. DBS implemented an early-payment programme, with seamless digital onboarding that has reduced operational complexity and enabled more consistent and reliable supply of agricultural inputs.
Uncertainty breeds innovation
Despite the volatile backdrop, new opportunities are emerging, as businesses and banks innovate in the name of resilience.
According to Agarwal, some agribusinesses are increasingly combining shorter-term supply arrangements with longer-term investments in supplier capabilities and infrastructure. This approach has a dual effect of strengthening supplier loyalty and relationships while also enhancing long-term supply stability.
On the financing side, banks are creating solutions to better support clients in a world of structural uncertainty. For example, DBS is continually exploring innovative inventory financing models that can help buyers optimise working-capital management while improving balance-sheet efficiency.
“Buyers can access supply chain financing while gaining the flexibility they need to respond to changing market conditions,” says Agarwal.
DBS is also leveraging its FX capabilities to help clients manage currency risks as they diversify in the pursuit of resilience. Agarwal explains that some clients are exploring financing in regional Asian currencies as part of efforts to optimise funding costs among structures where the underlying transactions are denominated in US dollar.
DBS is responding by working with partner banks and institutions on the ground in markets such as China to access local-currency liquidity, and provide more efficient financing.
Optimism through volatility
Efforts across Asia to build resilience are already beginning to pay dividends, says Agarwal. “Most of the Asian economies are growing despite challenges faced – they are working hard to adapt.”
The dynamics of supply chain restructuring are also providing more opportunities to more deeply embed sustainability across ecosystems. With more frequent supplier engagements and efforts to strengthen long-term relationships, Agarwal says businesses are finding more opportunities to incorporate sustainable practices across their supply chains. This is also supported by the reduced focus on cost minimisation, which has traditionally been a barrier to growth in sustainable trade.
Moreover, investing in sustainable supply chains will in itself prove an important contributor to resilience. For example, in F&A supply chains, more diversified sourcing, efficient resource use, and stronger supplier relationships will improve the industry’s ability to withstand geopolitical, economic, and climate-related disruptions.
Ultimately, says Agarwal, all roads lead to resilience. “Our clients continue to adapt as market conditions evolve, with resilience remaining a priority,” he adds.
To support this resilience building, banks must prove their agility by customising and swiftly implementing the right solution, over and over.
