Heard on the Street: Container shipping rates have started sinking. This might only be the beginning of their descent.
Every day, millions of sailors, truck drivers, longshoremen, warehouse workers and delivery drivers keep mountains of goods moving into stores and homes to meet consumers’ increasing expectations of convenience. But this complex movement of goods underpinning the global economy is far more vulnerable than many imagined. Photo illustration: Adele MorganContainer shipping rates have started sinking. This might only be the beginning of their descent.
A steady fall in the World Container Index compiled by London-based Drewry Shipping Consultants is the latest hint that Americans—and developed world consumers more generally—might be starting to spend less on goods as fiscal stimulus drains away,