Supply chain uncertainties and disruptions may last into 2023, RoxAnne Thomas, a logistics manager at Gerber Plumbing Fixtures, told Bloomberg Sept. 15.
"The beginning of the supply chain in China—I don't think that’s going to get better for a year. A year and a half before things are truly back to normal," she said.
Five things to know about the state of the global supply chain, per Bloomberg:
- September is one of two peak seasons for goods, and how things play out in the global supply chain this month will be crucial in determining how long shortages of goods last and which companies will be able to adapt, Bloomberg reported.
- Two years ago, a 40-foot shipping container cost less than $2,000 to ship goods from Asia to the U.S. Today, it costs as much as $25,000, according to Bloomberg. The container industry is on track to have a $100 billion net profit in 2021, up from about $15 billion in 2020.
- About 860,000 containers arrived at ports in Los Angeles and Long Beach each month over the last year, 24 percent more than the typical volume, according to Bloomberg. The increase is partly due to panic buying by various companies and the increase in online shopping since the pandemic began.
"For logistics professionals this incredible e-commerce spike required a whole new level of alignment and synchronization," Abe Eshkenazi, CEO of Association for Supply Chain Management, a Chicago-based trade group, told Bloomberg.
- Big companies like Apple and Walmart have been able to hire more supply chain professionals and use technology to navigate supply chain issues that have arisen since the pandemic, but the majority of companies can't afford to do so, Bloomberg reported.
- Unfilled supply chain positions are nearing a 20-year high, and there are more than 600,000 job openings expected in the next decade in the U.S.
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