The container equipment shortage on the US West Coast has led to the biggest Los Angeles export being ‘fresh air’, as thousands of empty containers are being returned in the clamour to get equipment back to Asia.
There seems to be a certain irony in that, considering Los Angeles is a city notorious for its smog, a combination of particle and ozone pollution.
The imbalance of empty versus full containers has recently been reported as almost 3 empty containers being shipped for every full one. Previously that ratio was less than two.
Despite the difficulties of importing into the US right now, evidenced by the many vessels queuing outside of Los Angeles and Long Beach ports, there seems to be no let-up in US consumer demand for Asian imports.
Import records are on course to be broken again this month, suggesting the the trade gap between the US and China is set to widen further.
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