The head of the second-biggest US port expects the pandemic-era surge in consumer demand will start to cool. A deceleration is already evident with regard to weaker inbound container arrivals. Imports into Long Beach have now dropped for two months. The neighboring port of Los Angeles registered the biggest decline in inbound cargo since the early days of the pandemic in August. Together, the twin operations handle about 40% of containerized trade with Asia.
Port of Long Beach Executive Director Mario Cordero: “You’re going to start seeing the economy cool down a little bit. We expect some diminishment in what we’ve seen in this consumer demand in the last year and a half.”
Cordero and other US port directors forecast an earlier-than-normal peak season in July as retailers raced around the clock to avoid another logistics nightmare around the holidays. Despite a cool-down in the second half of the year, Long Beach is still set for a strong year, he said.
Source: bnnbloomberg.ca