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Looking at the very first chart, containerships anchored in Los Angeles and Long Beach started increasing dramatically in late 2020, peaked in January 2021, the

Looking at the very first chart, containerships anchored in Los Angeles and Long Beach started increasing dramatically in late 2020, peaked in January 2021, then started falling back down almost reaching pre-pandemic levels by around June 2021. Then, in July 2021, they started rising quickly again, that rise has continued unabated, and as of now, the level is at the highest it has ever been, and almost TWICE the previous peak in January 2021. What specifically caused this sudden spike over the last 3 months?

callmeal 5y ago
>What specifically caused this sudden spike over the last 3 months? Looks like it's because ships are leaving empty for China so the unloading has slowed since the available warehouse space is taken up by outbound shipments (which are not being loaded because of that mismatch in shipping rates): However, westbound freight rates have not risen nearly as much, leading to an odd and problematic phenomenon: incentives for container owners to move them back to China empty to accelerate receipt of eastbound freight rates, instead of waiting for containers to be refilled to earn westbound freight rates as well. This is illustrated in the fourth chart which shows departing containers from LA/LB: a lot of them started leaving empty once eastbound freight rates surged. This further exacerbates supply chain issues, since US goods (i.e., grains) that were supposed to depart US railcars and warehouses for export remain in place, occupying space that US imported goods were destined for.