“Cost of shipping between the U.S. and China plunges” blared a headline in early October, citing a reported halving of rates in a matter of days. Was this the beginning of the end of sky-high trans-Pacific shipping costs, the onset of the correction importers have been waiting for?
Turns out it wasn’t.
Spot rates for U.S. importers remain exceptionally high, with no sign of a true plunge. Some indexes do show a moderate pullback, others very little or none at all. The hope for any major decline in shipping costs has been pushed back to Chinese New Year in February at the earliest.
