How will the dip in consumer demand affect the volume of my shipments and overall business?
Recent data suggest USA consumer confidence is improving as fears of continued inflation are leveling off. However, the recent drop in demand for import goods has significantly impacted ocean vessel operations throughout most ports around the world. Current USA-Chinese manufacturing orders are down 40% for the year, with an overall 20% decrease in container imports between August and November 2022. 1 Ocean carriers are reacting to the current vessel over-capacity in several ways including: Blank sailings - a sailing that has been partially canceled wherein some ports are bypassed, or fully canceled with no sailing at all Rollovers - overbooked sailings that leave a percentage of scheduled containers off the sailing Suspended service for specific lanes Reduction of vessel capacity for the short term 1 The decrease in import container traffic is having knock-on effects on export container capacity as well. That is, as fewer containers are being brought into the USA, competitio...