Weak Week for Container Vessel Flow....

Last week saw a dramatic decrease (-7.5%) in worldwide container vessel flow. Asia, the world's manufacturer, drove the downward trend down 9.8%. The US was down 8.3% week to week.

So much for a Christmas bump. In perspective, we continue to show higher (up 8.4%) container vessel flow compared to last year at the same time. We continue to trend downward in recent weeks working our way back to 2022 levels.

The bright hope has been the trend of total commercial vessel flow. This too showed weakness this past week. It appears that we have levelled out on its flow which signals and overall production stagnation.

The western ports in the US continue to see falling vessel volumes. An earlier spark of optimism has subsided as the port in the Los Angeles are continue to see falling demand. The throughput time of all west coast ports continues to run 2X the other US ports.

Throughput....

Current worldwide wait times for port dockages in less than a half a day. This is the lowest we have seen in years. Overall throughput time for container vessels now sits at 1.64 days. The US average is 2.3 days (flat week to week) driven by the lagging west coast performance referenced.

All signs point to an economic slowdown. Product flow, as well as the manufacturing output figures, demonstrate a waning interest for new products. The US economy continues to outpace these figures by consuming the excess inventory built up and the "sales" to encourage consumption.

Lead times are low.... capacity is available.... demand is waning. Time to be lean on inventory and protect working capital.