Chart of the Week: Inbound Ocean TEUs Index – USA SONAR: IOTI.USA
Bookings for 20-foot equivalent container imports (IOTI) are up 27% versus mid-June of 2019 and 11% over last year. With all the talk and expectations of nearshoring, goods coming from overseas are still flowing strong and having a noticeable impact on domestic transportation patterns.
The IOTI is a 14-day moving average index of orders (bookings) of 20-foot equivalent containers (TEU) based on the time of departure from the port of origin. Bookings lead customs clearings by about two to three weeks on goods coming from China to Los Angeles, and over a month on containers landing on the East Coast.
Customs and the IOTI have a decent correlation on a lag, but customs is inhibited by port infrastructure and labor, while bookings have little to no limitation on scale. Customs clearings in the above chart are based on shipments and not containers, but the connection is still present.
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