The historic disruption of $25 trillion in global goods trade that culminated two years ago left the deep economic scars of inflation and paranoia about shortages
by Brendan Murray and Enda Curran
Business Standard
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Jason Starr felt the first flashbacks of pandemic PTSD back in mid-April.
That’s when the vice president of operations at Montreal-based Globe Electric heard something he hadn’t in 18 months: Bookings on cargo ships from Asia were getting tight.
Within weeks, spot container rates surged the most since 2022 and customers were demanding lighting products sooner than ever before the peak sales season in the fourth quarter.
“We better start planning,” he recalled. “The shipping crisis during Covid really helped us understand how to handle future shipping crises like the one we’re in right now.”