Thread by @business

NEW: This is what it looks like when every step of the global supply chain goes wrong at the same time.

Read The Big Take ➡️ trib.al/cz5mGzW

Consumer demand is reaching new heights, paving a path to pull the economy out of its pandemic funk.

But problems on the supply side are reaching new heights too — revealing obstacles at every step of the way trib.al/cz5mGzW

The twin ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach have become the most essential gateways for the American economy, accounting for almost 40% of U.S. imported goods.

Now, congestion is wreaking havoc on the global supply chain trib.al/cz5mGzW

Ships making the two- to three-week voyage across the Pacific are forced to spend just about that much time waiting in line in southern California before they’re allowed to dock and discharge payloads of thousands of containers trib.al/cz5mGzW

The time it takes for goods to get from Shanghai to their destinations has more than doubled to 62 days since January 2020.

Meanwhile, it currently costs $10,000 to $15,000 to ship each container from China, more than five times the pre-pandemic rate trib.al/cz5mGzW

Here’s where some of the issues lie:

- Late-arriving ships
- Pandemic workplace restrictions
- Old infrastructure and stretched rail networks
- A shortage of truckers or warehouse workers trib.al/cz5mGzW

All of this, of course, affects consumers.

As once-abstract supply-chain issues materialize as lower inventory and higher prices, consumers who barely noticed ports before the pandemic grow wary of the impact disruptions are having on their daily lives trib.al/cz5mGzW