Transpacific trade truce could prompt new year frontloading
Vice-president of freight rate platform NYSHEX says postponement of increased tariffs on US imports from China could drive new traffic in the new year, with shippers revaluating forward bookings for 2019. However, a tightening of US warehouse space and higher inventory costs due to previous frontloading could limit additional volumes of cargo
Inventory carrying costs are mounting, says NYSHEX’s Kim Cockrell, and origin factories may not be able to meet the demand from all their customers requesting early production runs