Spot rates surge again as carriers push through fresh July hikes
A series of container freight spot rate hikes and general rate increases implemented on 15 ...
© Oleksiy Makhalov |
Phantom pregnancy “can be caused by trauma, [and] a chemical imbalance of hormones”.
Bear with us.
“Contributing psychological factors include a strong desire for pregnancy, or misinterpretation of objective bodily sensations. Women who experience false pregnancy often experience related feelings of stress, fear, anticipation, and general emotional disturbance.”
These same misinterpretations can, it appears, result in other phantoms. In the case of freight, we have just seen what can really only be accurately described as a ‘phantom’ peak – based on desire, stress, and misinterpretations.
The swift surge in transpacific capacity a month ago was interpreted as an early peak, triggered by front-loading, or tariff evasion. Carriers piled on capacity as shippers expressed an interest in moving cargo to the US quickly, before various summer tariff deadlines. And carriers very much wanted this outcome in a year where volumes might be volatile.
A peak in the bag is worth two in the bush.
But continued uncertainty, legal battles against tariffs, and a fast-changing geopolitical environment – alongside negotiations between Chinese suppliers and US retailers over who will pay – perhaps dented the front-loading surge.
Peak seasons have in the past been driven by seasonal demand. The new world order – in H1 25 anyway – is no longer bound by these traditional economic rules. The logistics market is, instead, driven by artificially created policies. The rules-based system has been upturned.
This latest, brief boom-and-bust cycle on the transpacific does not have the real elements of a seasonal peak. Instead, it has been driven by delusion and emboldened by desire, to create an illusion.
A true phantom peak.
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