Mastodawn

Emeritus Prof Christopher May May 23, 2023

Meanwhile in #suplychain #logistics, the production of #containers has sharply declined as global trade continues to be constrained & a surplus of containers sits at ports around the world.

Whether this is a lead or lagging indicator is an interesting Q.: does it merely reflect a previous surge & now over-capacity in containers ready to be used, or does it reflect worsening expectations for global trade?

Or given these are 20ft containers, does it relfect a swing back to larger 40ft units?

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OpenDNA⚙️

@ChrisMayLA6 IMO, what it probably means is that (1) carriers finally got enough empties back to China, and (2) export pressure from China eased up.

After two or three years of concerted effort, 1 was going to happen eventually. "Enough" doesn't mean the towers of empties vanish elsewhere tho.

2 is a lagging indicator, but not necessarily an indicator of a slow-down. A healthy normal will have lower volumes than mid-COVID: removing a kink from a bike chain isn't cause for alarm.