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Port of Los Angeles says shipping volume will plummet 35% next week

cnbc.com

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Re: Port of Los Angeles says shipping volume will plummet 35% next week

#71

Post by vjvjvjvjghv »

throw310822 wrote: post #18
thehoff wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I hate to be so cynical these days....but if this is true, that would mean a lot of dockworkers/longshoreman are out of jobs or not working right? Truck drivers, and who knows what other jobs are just not doing anything at this point?

Dockworkers, logistics, truck delivery drivers, warehouse workers, etc. On the other hand, I guess it might be a great time for small shops and businesses that produce low to medium tech stuff- from crafts, clothing and furniture to electronics. Even if the country's going to suffer they should profit handsomely (which is not a bad thing per se).

If anything it will be very short term. Nobody knows where this is going so it would be suicidal for small businesses to scale up. Large companies have the reserves but little guys don’t. I am very worried that this will lead to another dying of small businesses like happened during COVID.

Re: Port of Los Angeles says shipping volume will plummet 35% next week

#72

Post by philipallstar »

pixl97 wrote: post #64
taylodl wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Markets don't work that way. Supply is tuned to demand. When the supply is artificially constrained while the demand remains constant, it further strains already limited supplies, leading to empty shelves and rising prices. This is a fundamental principle of market economics. It's important to understand how these dynamics operate to grasp the broader implications of reduced imports from China.

In addition tik-tok/insta are having post after post warning people that the shelves are going to be empty which tends to feedback into itself. If you were going to buy 1 of X normally if you think X may be out for sometime you may end up buying 2-4 of X which will run the shelves out very quickly when 10-15% of purchasers do that unexpectedly. Other people see the shelves emptying and buy more too. Going to be messy…

I'd imagine they'd be saying, "Why haven't we seen Biden in over 100 days?"

Re: Port of Los Angeles says shipping volume will plummet 35% next week

#73

Post by rad_gruchalski »

ajmurmann wrote: post #63
rad_gruchalski wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well… it’s the best time to start? I guess that’s what the MAGA Sun is hoping for.

Cool, so in a year or three the fabric factory would be up and running. Oh wait, we need to first build a factory for the machines we need in the fabric factory...

Well… that’s exactly what I mean. But you guys have chosen a president.

Re: Port of Los Angeles says shipping volume will plummet 35% next week

#75

Post by jmyeet »

taylodl wrote: post #7

This could get really ugly when the shelves start going empty. This may make the toilet paper incident seem quaint in comparison.

The "empty shelves" discourse is alarmist and honestly kind of annoying.

Almost all of the food on the shelves is locally produced or, in the very least, not produced in China. Some foods may disappear or become more expensive but there'll really be no disruption in food supply.

This will however affect markets dominated by Chinese goods, particularly clothing. Even here the effects will be somewhat mitigated by existing strategies to avoid China tariffs eg selling through Vietnam.

Certain businesses will be hit hard. And that's really the biggest problem: cascading effects leading to an inevitable recession. Already, truckers who ship goods from ports are sitting around idle. We've cut tens of thousands from the government. More layoffs are to come.

Re: Port of Los Angeles says shipping volume will plummet 35% next week

#76

Post by ebruchez »

perihelions wrote: post #41
thehoff wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I hate to be so cynical these days....but if this is true, that would mean a lot of dockworkers/longshoreman are out of jobs or not working right? Truck drivers, and who knows what other jobs are just not doing anything at this point?

But, China itself is automating away most of those jobs. It's a stark difference between Chinese and Western—just look at the phraseology we're using, without thinking about it: "out of jobs"; in China's zeitgeist they wouldn't say they lost jobs to technology, they say they "saved 80 percent of manpower" [0]. [0] https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202312/1304443.shtml ( "China’s first self-built fully automated dock en…

True or not, be aware that "The Global Times is a daily tabloid newspaper under the auspices of the Chinese Communist Party's flagship newspaper, the People's Daily, commenting on international issues from a Chinese nationalistic perspective." (Wikipedia)

Re: Port of Los Angeles says shipping volume will plummet 35% next week

#77

Post by _joel »

rad_gruchalski wrote: post #38
bitmasher9 wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Except those businesses relay heavily on imported materials. For example, no one is weaving cotton into fabric in the US at any scale.

Well… it’s the best time to start? I guess that’s what the MAGA Sun is hoping for.

Even their hats are made in China.

Re: Port of Los Angeles says shipping volume will plummet 35% next week

#78

Post by zelda420 »

rad_gruchalski wrote: post #38
bitmasher9 wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Except those businesses relay heavily on imported materials. For example, no one is weaving cotton into fabric in the US at any scale.

Well… it’s the best time to start? I guess that’s what the MAGA Sun is hoping for.

Unfortunately the largest cotton producing country is china, followed by India.

My grandparents actually worked and met at a denim factory in west Texas which was renowned for its cotton production. Growing up I remember giant cotton fields which have all been replaced with strip malls and sprawl.

It’s going to be a multi-year project at the very least. And even then probably still cheaper to make clothes in Vietnam.

Re: Port of Los Angeles says shipping volume will plummet 35% next week

#79

Post by rdtsc »

ceejayoz wrote: post #28
rdtsc wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I hate to be so cynical these days....but if this is true, that would mean a lot of But since we’re being cynical, is importing stuff just to keep the port workers busy a good idea?

Yes, probably. Lose skilled, trained workers to another industry and it may be tough to get them back later on when you need them again.

> Yes, probably. Lose skilled, trained workers to another industry and it may be tough to get them back later on when you need them again.

I love it! If that's the case, then it's easily solved, just ship empty cardboard boxes back and forth to/from Hawaii. The workers can diligently load and unload them, and then load them right back. The truck drivers can do a few loops around Los Angeles even to keep up their training.

That that kind of happened during a phase of the Soviet Union's economic development. The economic success of a branch was measured by the amount of resources consumed and the allocated work done. So they had started building large couches and started running empty trains back and forth to consume wood or fuel and add up "miles driven" to their ledger. We can do the same /s

Re: Port of Los Angeles says shipping volume will plummet 35% next week

#80

Post by throw0101a »

trebligdivad wrote: post #21

The youtuber 'What's going on with shipping?' has a good description in; it includes pointers to loads of sites with the actual data. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GgcIuQ4X5k

> The youtuber 'What's going on with shipping?'

The "Youtuber" is actually a professor and Chair, Department of History, Criminal Justice and Politics at Campbell:

* https://directory.campbell.edu/people/sal-mercogliano/

* https://twitter.com/mercoglianos

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