Insights & Analysis
Welcome to Flexport Research
Logistics has been described as "a backstage pass to the world economy." As the technology platform for global logistics, Flexport has a unique vantage point on global trade and supply chains. Here we offer novel insights and analysis incorporating Flexport and third-party data.
Weekly Economic Report
Economic Insights
Striking the Inflation Target
September 25, 2023: Amidst persistent and excessive inflation, most of the world’s major central banks have sharply raised rates. Some have just shown a willingness to wait and see whether these hikes will suffice to knock inflation down.
Economic Insights
Energetic Inflation
September 18, 2023: Whether August CPI showed an alarming revival of inflation or a minor uptick depends heavily on the weight one gives to volatile energy prices. Regardless, U.S. inflation remains well above the Fed’s target and above market expectations.
Economic Insights
Good Goods Exports
September 11, 2023: While U.S. goods imports exceed goods exports, the latter have been growing faster this year. That growth has been led by producer-oriented categories such as petroleum products and aircraft parts, rather than products more familiar to consumers.
Economic Insights
Borrowed Time
September 5, 2023: The latest numbers on U.S. personal income and expenditures show that consumption has been outpacing income. There are limits to how long consumption and income can go their separate ways.
Flexport Indicators
Flexport Indicator
Ocean Timeliness Indicator (OTI)
Flexport’s Ocean Timeliness Indicator measures the amount of time taken to ship freight from the point at which cargo is ready to leave the exporter to when it is collected from its destination port. The ocean shipping world tends to run along “trade lanes.” The two biggest trade lanes carry goods from Asia to North America and from Asia to Europe. The OTI captures timeliness on each of these. Last Update: September 24, 2023
Flexport Indicator
Post-Covid Indicator (PCI)
Flexport’s Post-Covid Indicator measures the balance between U.S. consumers’ spending on goods versus services, now augmented with divides between durable and nondurable goods and between nominal and real (inflation adjusted) figures. Last Update: September 18, 2023
Flexport Indicator
Trade Activity Forecast (TAF)
Flexport’s Trade Activity Forecast augments traditional economic techniques for predicting U.S. merchandise imports with Flexport’s proprietary data. Details are provided for six industrial categories with versions available on seasonally adjusted and non-adjusted bases. Last Update: September 18, 2023
Ukraine Conflict
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