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U.S. import demand fell suddenly. Is this a sign that the market is slowing down?

Time:2022-06-21 Publisher:Kevin Num:3141

Since the outbreak of the disease, the popularity of the shipping market has not decreased. The higher demand for goods once made the transportation capacity of this maritime market tight. However, some experts worry that there will be excess capacity.

Recently, some American media said that the import demand of the United States was declining sharply, which caused quite a stir in the industry. This means that the capacity of the shipping market is not so tight, and there may even be a surplus.

Just earlier, the US House of Representatives recently passed the "maritime transport reform act 2022" (OSRA), but the market demand showed signs of slowing down.

It is understood that the inventory of large American retailers Costco and macy's is higher than in previous years. They may use promotional discounts to reduce inventory.

Shipping companies also warned that if import and export demand continues to cool in the future, the performance of the shipping season may not be as expected.

According to the data released by Costco, their inventory reached US $17.623 billion, an annual increase of 26%. Among them, hundreds of millions of dollars are the inventory in the peak consumption season last year.

The inventory of Macy's department store, another retailer, also increased by 17% compared with last year, and the inventory of Walmart logistics center increased by 32%.

The chairman of a high-end furniture manufacturer in North America said frankly that the terminal inventory in the United States was too high, furniture customers reduced their purchases by more than 40%, and the recession of the market also led to a sharp decline in shipping prices.

Recently, the US House of Representatives passed the "maritime transport reform act of 2022" (OSRA), mainly in the hope of expanding protective measures, retaliation and unfair business practices.

The introduction of the act not only strengthens the supervision of maritime carriers, but also restricts the collection of special fees.

At present, the shipping industry generally believes that the epidemic situation is the main reason for such a special situation in the shipping market. 

In the past two years, the congestion of the supply chain has led to a significant increase in shipping time. The greater the problem in the supply chain, the greater the demand for shipping.

The epidemic has not only impacted the global supply chain, but also brought opportunities. This allowed the shipping industry to continue booming for two years. At present, although this prosperity continues.

However, some experts believe that once the epidemic ends, this special phenomenon will naturally disappear. This may lead to excess shipping capacity.

It can be observed from the latest Shanghai export container freight rate index that the recent quotation has not rebounded significantly due to the arrival of the peak season.

Especially the three popular routes, namely, the US line, the European line and the Mediterranean, have reached new lows.

GLA hereby reminds the majority of shippers and freight forwarders to keep an eye on the latest developments in shipping and keep close contact with shipping companies to prevent shipment delay.

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