Posted on 03/30/2010 6:53:39 AM PDT by blam
Packed Containers Piling Up At Asian Ports Because There's Too Much Demand From West
Vincent Fernando, CFA
Mar. 30, 2010, 6:16 AM
Packed containers are piling up at Asian ports as strong demand from the U.S. and Europe causes a lack of supply of ships. Shipping companies had purposefully idled capacity during the economic downturn, then started to bring it back recently.
Yet they didn't do it fast enough to keep up with the robust pick-up in demand from the West.
[snip]
(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
Asia-U.S. Shipper Readies Huge Fleet Expansion After Reporting 37% Higher Volumes
So, are those containers filled with rainbow skittles and flying ponies?
I’m still waiting for mine from 0bama... ;)
Good indicator for the direction of the economy. Howevere, I would like to see the US pick up some of that manufacturing demand.
Probably full of crappy tools headed for Ace Hardware.
[smack]
"Free healthcare! Get back in line, citizen!"
It is quite obvious something does not add up in regards to ‘demand’..............In todays local paper we had this story about sales tax collections for our local stadium...Sales-tax collections for the Miller Park stadium district are already 7.4% behind last year’s collections, according to new data. In 2009, the district finished the year 9.45% behind calendar year 2008’s sales tax collection amount..............If there is this huge spike in ‘DEMAND’ how come sales tax collections are still going DOWN? I look at sales tax collections as one of the best indicators of economic activity because the gov’t can’t fudge the numbers. They have every incentive to collect every dime of sales tax owed to them, and the fact that collections are down this year vs 09 (when 09 was a dreadful year!) is very troubling. Gov’t can massage the jobs numbers, the GDP numbers, etc., but the local tax collection numbers are not subject to such hijinks and they show me that any increase in demand is iluusory./
http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/89483647.html
Sales-tax collections for the Miller Park stadium district are already 7.4% behind last year’s collections, according to new data.
The district received $1.8 million in sales-tax collections from the state Department of Revenue in March. The March distribution represents the January proceeds of the 0.1% stadium sales tax, which has been collected in Ozaukee, Washington, Milwaukee, Waukesha and Racine counties since 1996.
The $1.8 million collected is about $257,000 less than the district had forecasted. In a letter to district board members, Mike Duckett, the district’s executive director, said the March collection was the third lowest March collection since the tax was first collected.
“Year to date, the sales tax collections in 2010 are lagging about $432,500 behind our forecasted/ budgeted amount for the year,” Duckett told board members.
In 2009, the district finished the year 9.45% behind calendar year 2008’s sales tax collection amount.
Since 1997, the average annual growth in the sales tax has been 2.97%, far below what had been expected and forecast. As a result, the district now expects that the sunset year for the Miller Park sales tax will be between 2016 and 2018, at least two years later than originally thought.
Ping
Filled with cheap rakes, shovels and pick axes for those shovel ready jobs.
The problem is not the lack of vessels. The problem is that too many shipping lines mothballed vessels because they wanted to keep margins up on their available vessels.
They are also loathe to increase shipping capacity because they do not feel economic recovery is real yet. As weird as it sounds, we are still seeing service cuts, both in certain ports and in shipping frequency.
Demand? Increased demand? For WHAT??? How the hell can people afford to buy anything? What is in those containers? $4 Wal-Mart shoes? 50-cent rubber duckies??
Industry picks up first. I’ve heard 2 people in different fields say things are changing in their little worlds. Now, I’m skeptical that it really points to anything, but I can hope!
It takes a lot of stuff to outfit 16.5k new IRS agents and 111 new federal bureaucracies.
You could probably pack 16,500 sets of auditing tools (hot irons, iron maidens, racks, etc.) could probably be packed on one container ship.
“
Demand? Increased demand? For WHAT??? How the hell can people afford
to buy anything?
“
I’m no economist...but from what I’ve heard on the late-night “trucking”
shows (out of Cincinnati on WLW 700 AM and Midnight Trucking on
WBAP 820 AM in Dallas), we may be entering a “re-stocking” phase.
If I understand this, retailers under-stocked their shelves and
warehouses during the misery of 2008 and 2009...and now are playing
“catchup” as the US economy hasn’t totally cratered and is showing that
it still has a pulse.
That’s just what I’ve heard on these trucking/semi shows...
and don’t know how true this is.
One can always hope, but with 20% of the workforce unemployed or underemployed and credit tight, I fail to see where domestic demand will come from. The USD rally vs other currencies will make our goods more expensive and less competitive so I fail to see how our manufacturing economy will improve. The housinf industry is still in a depression and banking only looks good because of all the funny money the Fed is pumping into the big boys. Bond market will be the canary in the coal mine and it looks like inflation is heating up. Interesting times.
The lumber business has picked up. First in exports to Asia of both finished lumber and logs.
The US market has also picked up. However, it is a supply driven market. Demand in the US has picked up unevenly throughout the US. However, much of it may be tied to the homebuyer tax credit.
FYI, the lumber market has ALWAYS been a leading indicator of an improvement in the general economy. We always lead into and out of recessions. However, when the tax credit expires it COULD lead to a double dip.
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