Supply Chain Normalizing
After a historic two years, many parts of the supply chain are normalizing. But that doesn’t mean everything is back to pre-pandemic levels. Disruption still persists. It just depends on the mode.?
Retail purchases fell in three of the past four months. Services spending was flat in December.
Analysts say consumer spending that provided the supply chain sector with unprecedented demand and disruption is unwinding.?
Inflation reduced the personal savings rate showing US consumers have fewer dollars to spend. That reality is now affecting the supply chain.?
US imports returned to near pre-pandemic levels to close out 2022 and remained that way to start the year. December imports were 1.3% above 2019 levels and 10.1% below 2021.?
The sluggish volume is pushing rates down and easing port congestion. Some shippers expect significant ocean freight savings this year.
The port disruptions widely discussed in 2022 on the West Coast are alleviated. At this time in 2022, over 100 container ships sat off Los Angeles and Long Beach ports.?
Now, there are almost no ships waiting in the Pacific Ocean and increasingly few off the East and Gulf coasts. Queues are between zero and two ships.
Read the full Flexe Institute Market Watch report here.