News / 'Crunch time in the US' – shippers advised to 'brace for extended peak season'

© Bernhard Richter

When the bank account is full, European consumers like to save. But US consumers like to spend.

That phenomenon – along with a faster economic recovery in the US, growing vaccination rates and government stimuli – is driving import demand, and driving up freight rates, both in air and sea.

The belief that consumers would start spending on services rather than goods, easing the pressure on the goods supply chain, has not yet materialised.

ING research, released last week, notes that both goods ...