China, manufacturing orders and ocean bookings

All the congestion at the ports is skewing the impact of the decrease in container bookings as a result of the pullback in manufacturing orders. FreightWaves SONAR shows future import container orders continue to drop.
Ocean booking levels from China to the major West and East Coast ports remain well off their two year highs according to Tony Mulvey, senior analyst at FreightWaves.
“As booking levels, which indicate future import volumes, continue their descent, peak season demand on the ocean looks muted,” Mulvey said. “Softer demand on the ocean is leading to carriers increasing the number of blank sailings in an effort to slow the rapid decline in Trans-Pacific spot rates.”