“Personally I think people overreacted to short-term numbers and they should stop doing that,” said Jamie Dimon, chief executive of JPMorgan Chase, in a Bloomberg interview.
The US Federal Reserve “might have to do a little bit more” to tame prices, he said, adding, “I’m afraid inflation may not go away that quickly.”
LOGISTICS
Transpacific and Asia-Europe rates climbed moderately from their October lows last week as carriers seek to keep vessels full by reducing capacity, per Freightos.
More carriers have announced planned December GRIs for the ex-Asia lanes, per Freightos.
The Panama Canal has its driest October since 1950 with 41% less rainfall than usual. There are still no noticeable delays to container transits of the canal, with the current wait time at 0.1 days for a 30-day average container ship, per Flexport.
Year-to-date 2023 IATA demand is at -6.1% and capacity has grown at +8.7%. IATA forecasts air cargo demand decline to be -4.1% in 2023 year-over-year.
The global contract logistics market continues to grow (4.1%) faster than global GDP (2.7%) across the regions, per UPS.
Month-on-Month ocean and air rate changes … new services … seasonal outlook. Read More
INSIDE SOURCING
Materials prices and logistics have cooled off from a year ago. Now it’s worker wages that are heating up. They’re set to be the next pain point.
- Cambodia just raised wages (effective 2024).
- Bangladesh urgently boosted wages 56%, effective almost immediately (as of December 1, 2023), but workers are not satisfied. In fact, they are angry.
Contributing to the problem is surging inflation, particularly in highly dollarized economies.
The timing is not ideal since manufacturers are facing severely reduced orders and increased price pressure from brands.
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MATERIALS
Cotton prices rose this week primarily due to heightened buying activity by funds and speculators, coinciding with a softer dollar. However, the restrained demand outlook has limited the gains for this natural fiber.
WTI crude futures fell to $77 per barrel due to conflicting perspectives on global oil supply and demand.
Lower oil prices and weak demand continue to put downward pressure on synthetic fibers and yarn prices.
You can find the current Month-on-Month and Year-on-Year prices here.
CURRENCIES
Slowing US inflation caused investors to dump the dollar. The euro hit its highest level since September.
The Chinese yuan is hovering at its strongest levels in three months as China reported better-than-anticipated retail sales and industrial production numbers for October.
MARKETS
Lower inflation in key Western markets was attributed to lower energy prices.
- UK inflation slowed to 4.6% in October, driven by a fall in the energy price cap.
- US inflation fell to 3.2% in October. This is down from the 3.7% increase in September.
- Eurozone inflation fell to 2.9% in October, down from 4.3% in September.
Japan’s economy shrank an annualized 2.1% in the July-September period from the previous quarter, marking the first contraction in three quarters.
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