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But this isn't manufacturing vs manufacturing. It's putting an empty container on a ship that is already going somewhere vs clawing tons of raw material out of

But this isn't manufacturing vs manufacturing. It's putting an empty container on a ship that is already going somewhere vs clawing tons of raw material out of the Earth, processing the raw material, manufacturing a container, transporting the container.

jpgvm 5y ago
Sure but you asked if they are subsidizing them, the answer is no. Is it cheaper than waiting to load empty containers? It could be depending on the incentives, even if those short-term incentives are damaging to long term prospects you would be surprised how short-term most businesses think. Biggest influencing factor I can think of right now is that many importers/exporters are willing to pay exorbitant fees to get product from China to the US. This is specifically acute in areas/industries that there are no other viable source, say for instance LiFePO4 batteries. These are absolutely key to a huge number of things happening in the world right now and are outside of a few very isolated plants (CATL has one in California) made entirely in China. There are so many insane distortions happening because of supply crunch that subsidies and trade nonsense are actually starting to become irrelevant. (though I really do hope USA sorts their shit out, their China policy is fucking up the world for zero reason).
- Consultant32452 5y ago
  You've hinted at what I'm trying to understand. What incentives are actually in place that are impacting this behavior? My hypothesis was that the CCP decided it's going to flood the world market with containers by subsidizing them. Maybe that's not what is going on, fine. But what specifically is happening? It sounds like maybe you don't know either.
  - kmonsen 5y ago
    Turnaround time is by far the most important thing for ships, so the turn around at first opportunity instead of loading empty containers.

jpgvm 5y ago

Sure but you asked if they are subsidizing them, the answer is no. Is it cheaper than waiting to load empty containers? It could be depending on the incentives, even if those short-term incentives are damaging to long term prospects you would be surprised how short-term most businesses think. Biggest influencing factor I can think of right now is that many importers/exporters are willing to pay exorbitant fees to get product from China to the US. This is specifically acute in areas/industries that there are no other viable source, say for instance LiFePO4 batteries. These are absolutely key to a huge number of things happening in the world right now and are outside of a few very isolated plants (CATL has one in California) made entirely in China. There are so many insane distortions happening because of supply crunch that subsidies and trade nonsense are actually starting to become irrelevant. (though I really do hope USA sorts their shit out, their China policy is fucking up the world for zero reason).

Consultant32452 5y ago
You've hinted at what I'm trying to understand. What incentives are actually in place that are impacting this behavior? My hypothesis was that the CCP decided it's going to flood the world market with containers by subsidizing them. Maybe that's not what is going on, fine. But what specifically is happening? It sounds like maybe you don't know either.
- kmonsen 5y ago
  Turnaround time is by far the most important thing for ships, so the turn around at first opportunity instead of loading empty containers.