Crypto News: Supply Lines: Solid US imports

US container imports stayed elevated in September near pandemic-era peaks, fueled by goods from China and worries about a strike by longshoremen, new figures showed.

Volume reached 2.52 million containers measured in 20-foot equivalent units, the second-highest level this year and a 14.4% increase from the same month a year earlier, according to a report released Tuesday from Descartes Systems Group. The all-time high was 2.62 million set in May 2022.

American importers since May have been ordering goods ahead of the usual late-summer rush to restock, worried about the threat of a dockworkers strike on the US East and Gulf coasts, as well as new tariffs on Chinese products.

Big Take Podcast: Inside the Dock Workers' Strike Deal

The strike happened and lasted three days, leaving a queue of ships outside ports that's likely to skew October trade flows. Descartes said West Coast maritime gateways increased their share of the overall total for a fourth consecutive month.

Other highlights from the Descartes report:

Long Beach, Charleston and Baltimore posted the biggest month-on-month gains in TEU volumes
Chinese imports reached 989,425 TEUs in September, a 1.5% increase from the prior month and not far off the record of 1.02 million set in July
Shipments from other countries posted even larger sequential gains — Vietnam 13.7%, India 20.8% and Thailand 17.4%
Port transit times mostly declined in September, with Oakland, Seattle and Houston being exceptions

—Brendan Murray in London

Click here for more of Bloomberg.com's most-read stories about trade, supply chains and shipping.

Tariff tide | Canadian real gross domestic product may be as much as 1.7% lower by the end of 2028 if Donald Trump wins the presidency and Republicans rule the House and Senate than if Kamala Harris wins, economists at Desjardins say. A Republican sweep next month would likely lead to lower global and US real GDP over the next four years, economists including Jimmy Jean and Randall Bartlett said in a report, compared with a Harris presidency and divided Congress, which they assume as their baseline.

China is studying raising tariffs on large-engine vehicles and will start collecting duties on brandy from Europe. Separately, China said it's confident in reaching its economic targets this year.
Apple's global supply chain procurement chief is retiring after 24 years at the iPhone maker, bringing new leadership to a critical position.
Hurricane Milton is intensifying on its path toward Florida — possibly reaching Category 4 power — and may spark the largest evacuation in seven years as it aims for the state's Gulf Coast and Tampa. Click here to see the latest on the storm's path.
Vietnam and France agreed to upgrade diplomatic relations between the two countries to a comprehensive strategic partnership, the Southeast Asian country's highest level.
One in seven UK business leaders would consider moving their operations abroad if Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves raises their tax burden at the budget later this month, according to a survey.
Factory orders in Germany plummeted in August, marking yet another setback for industry in a year when Europe's biggest economy has failed to deliver a much-awaited recovery.

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Maersk says it will drop a planned extra fee for handling goods at US ports after dockworkers and the container shipping industry group agreed on a tentative wage deal, which suspended a strike.
Mitsubishi HC Capital plans to invest about $1.35 billion this year in shipping containers through group company CAI International as Mideast tensions rise, Nikkei reports.
Run SPLC after an equity ticker on Bloomberg to show critical data about a company's suppliers, customers and peers.
Use the AHOY function to track global commodities trade flows.
See DSET CHOKE for a dataset to monitor shipping chokepoints.
For freight dashboards, see {BI RAIL}, {BI TRCK} and {BI SHIP} and {BI 3PLS}
Click HERE for automated stories about supply chains.
On the Bloomberg Terminal, type NH FWV for FreightWaves content.
See BNEF for BloombergNEF's analysis of clean energy, advanced transport, digital industry, innovative materials, and commodities.

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