Empty outbound boxes weigh on America’s supply chain

Empty boxes leaving American shores have become a major symptom of the prevailing tariff situation and respective economic slowdown in the US and China, firstquarter TEUdata for the two countries reveal. The port of Los Angeles, for one, has seen a spike in TEUs from 2018 to the same period this year, up 12.7% to  650 977 boxes in March. But the increase in volume is largely because of imports rising 2.9%, or by 194 866 TEUs, compared with the same month a year ago. More concerning, and coming at extra cost to the supply chain, is the amount

of empty boxes that left the States in March – 194 866. That’s 30.2% up year-onyear for March. LA’s port officials of course are upbeat about the spike in volume, regardless of whether it’s in- or outbound. Safe to say, the retail sector in the US is feeling the effect of consumer buoyancy and, with the recent winter chill beginning to thaw, the expectation of balmier weather is translating into an uptick of incoming boxes bringing goods to eager spenders. But ONE’s global CEO, Jeremy Nixon, told delegates at a global supply chain

conference in Singapore that empty boxes leaving the US were overshadowing the increase in TEUs bringing imports to America’s shores. “The increase in volume is not all good news,” he said. In fact he stressed that the

30.2% spike in outbound empty boxes was getting worse. According to Nixon, for every two boxes leaving the States, one is empty, weighing in cost on the entire supply chain – cost that is ultimately

passed on to consumers. China, for that matter, is not doing any better. On the back of a slowing economy, its imports slipped lower for the fourth consecutive month. The increase in volume is not all good news. – Jeremy Nixon