One-day Shipping, Give or Take 70 Days - STILL BROKE

 

SUPPLY CHAIN

One-day Shipping, Give or Take 70 Days

 Brendan Smialowski/Getty Images

Global supply chain update: Still broken. The queue of container ships waiting to enter Los Angeles’s and Long Beach’s neighboring ports hit an all-time high of 65 vessels this past week, and they’ll wait an average of 8.7 days to deliver their cargo. The average transit time from China to the US is now 71 days, compared to 40 days in 2019...and you thought driving from Silver Lake to Malibu was rough. Why it matters: These California ports are the busiest in the US, and they accept the majority of imports from Asia. A snag outside their docks signals an economy-wide slowdown in getting goods → consumers.

18 months on, Covid is still nightmare fuel for logistics

Shampoo: Covid-19 worker restrictions in Malaysia have caused the price of palm oil, a key ingredient in everything from biofuel to shampoo, to skyrocket as much as 70%. Coffee: Travel restrictions in Vietnam are making coffee beans more expensive for companies like Folgers and Peet’s. Looking ahead...Santa’s elves stationed at Target, Best Buy, and other retailers are scrambling for extra inventory in an effort to keep their shelves stocked for the holiday season.