Some supply strains in the US are easing, two years after a jump in demand started emptying shelves, snarling shipping and sowing the seeds of soaring inflation, Bloomberg News reported. The line of 25 cargo ships headed to Southern California’s two big ports is less than a quarter of the record backup in January, and spot container rates have dropped almost 20% this year. Flexport Inc.’s average transpacific shipping journey of 102 days is the quickest since November. Delays moving containers out of rail depots in Detroit and Memphis are shorter than they were in September, according to Hapag-Lloyd AG. But for every sign that a cooling economy will give supply chains room to rebalance, there’s a reason for skepticism. On the East Coast, ship bottlenecks are building again. The dwell time for containers is still climbing at rail yards near Chicago and Kansas City. At 9.6 days in April, the wait to move freight on rail from the adjoining ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach was the longest since July. The muddled picture is dividing observers. To some, the logistics links between factories and consumers will get stretched again when China allows factories to run full steam. Others sense the start of a longer-term weakening in the demand for goods as inflation erodes purchasing power and spending on services picks up.
