Consultants Drewry say container freight rates from Shanghai to Los Angeles have dropped to $2,400 from $11,000 since February, and rates on the route to Rotterdam have dropped from $14,000 to $3,700.
So, all that idea of restoring everything because transport costs have gone up. As you were men, as you were.
It may be a Chinese deflation but its caused by a self inflicted Western recession.
The Bank of England may be vindicated for refusing to join other central banks heading for monetary overkill.
We can hope, eh?
All circumstances are aligned for another long wave of cheap imports from China and East Asia. The supply chain disruptions following Covid have largely dissipated and oceanic shipping costs have returned to levels that restore the commercial arbitrage advantage to the Far East.
Also, we’ve deliberately destroyed our own energy base, so can’t complete with Asian manufacturing.
but ultimately energy supply shocks are not fundamentally inflationary
Well, that’s a comfort. Significantly increasing the cost of everything isn’t “fundamentally” inflationary.
Xi Jinping’s China is in an economic trap with no easy way out.
Aren’t we all.
‘Also, we’ve deliberately destroyed our own energy base, so can’t complete with Asian manufacturing.’
Are you talking about Oz Steve?
“Significantly increasing the cost of everything isn’t “fundamentally” inflationary.”
Who cares if your income goes up just as fast?
Shipping rates are down because demand is down, surely? The problem with making all your product in China these days is the volatility. Unpredictable Covid-19 shutdowns, spontaneous American sanctions – uncertainty is bad for investment.