Not well understood, but the supply chain chain disruptions seen after the start of the COVID pandemic - such as long waits to get a port berth for container ships to unload - were in great part the result of a surge import volumes in 2021, as seen in the graphic below.

Source: Semafor

But as always, there is a reversion to the mean going on, with 2023 container imports back to 2018-2020 levels - with container rates down dramatically last year, and processing times also back to nomal.

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