CMO building the global freight booking platform, Freightos (Nasdaq: CRGO). Lover of storytelling, automation, freight puns and cookie dough...and a NYT-dubbed celebrity freight nerd.
Supply chains are all about building buffers (and about moving goods, of course). If there’s one thing COVID-19 taught us, it’s how quickly buffers can disappear when challenges pile up. Think shutdowns, import spikes, canal blockages, misplaced containers, and no toilet paper. Today (to a lesser extent!) we’re seeing another pileup of factors (congestion, transshipments, looming tariffs, and earlier peak season) pushing rates back up. How high, you ask? (Or did I not hear your correctly? Based on Judah Levine's latest Freightos weekly update, Asia-US West Coast prices crept up 1% this week to $5,969 per FEU, while Asia-N. Europe surged 5% to $6,480 per FEU. On the air cargo side, China-N. Europe prices soared by a whopping 26% to $4.27 per kilogram. Demand is through the roof, and capacity is stretched like Gumby (90's alert!). That’s pushing long-haul carriers to beef up transpacific and Asia-Europe services, making regional and lower-volume lanes feel the pinch. US forwarders are also reporting a spike in demand as companies rush to move goods before August tariff increases on Chinese products. And then there’s the seasonality factor, which is unseasonably early. Shippers are hustling to get seasonal goods out the door now to avoid the inevitable Q4 congestion and inventory nightmares. Add in EU port strikes plus ongoing Red Sea congestion, and you’ve got a logistics cocktail that’s tough to swallow (Congestion on the Beach? Supply Chain Sangria? Customs Collins?🍸). But let’s not get too down. Despite the chaos of the Suez Canal crisis earlier this year, rates actually dipped after the initial crisis before spiking back up. This tells us that while the current pressures are intense, they aren’t necessarily permanent and that as markets adjust and some issues resolve, there’s hope for stability (albeit at a higher floor). At least that’s what I’m hoping for. Find this post helpful? Share it with a friend or smash that follow button. Think it's not helpful? Please email me at [email protected] #supplychain #logistics #freight
Faith Falato
3mo
Eytan, thanks for sharing!
CEO, ToolsGroup | Transformative SaaS and AI for Supply Chain Tech Business Leader | Public and Private Board Director | Board Member- Freightos, SeaCube| Forbes contributor
3moEytan from my past experience in INTTRA containers bookings always went up end of June - it is seasonal. This year the Red Sea delays and upcoming tariffs just increased the peak. Overall growth in demand for consumer goods is questionable though - too many layoffs, delays, bad earnings and other factors pointing to a big red sign “caution”.