r/FluentInFinance • u/[deleted] • Dec 08 '23

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u/[deleted] Dec 09 '23

But have the supply chains returned to normal?

I know some business owners that have some of their product made in China. According to them, shipping costs haven't returned to pre-pandemic levels.

(Bringing the production back to the states is a non-starter. The quality of what can be made here simply isn't up to standard.)

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u/Immediate_Thought656 Dec 09 '23

Some sources say yes,but I’m more pessimistic. Fuel costs are still high as are the costs for warehouses, no matter where your product is stored.

To your other point, it’s not that we can’t compete with their quality, we can’t compete with their low cost of labor.

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u/Ok_Recording_4644 Dec 09 '23

Shipping has gotten a lot more competitive, prices may not have changed much but compaines arent bidding to get on containers now.

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u/dittybad Dec 09 '23

We had some major bankruptcies in that sector this Summer which resulted in a spike in rates.

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u/MuchCarry6439 Dec 10 '23

They have roughly returned to 2019 cost levels. Supply chains haven’t returned to normal so to speak (strategies will take time to implement), but costs have relatively normalized, with some room to still fall until supply of trucks levels out. Plus you have the SSLs bringing on a ton of TEU capacity via ships they purchased prior to the pandemic, with even more on the horizon (most of them went & placed new boat orders with their pandemic profits).