Accoring to freightwaves, the average daily bookings for container imports were half of what they were in January of 2022 and 25% lower than pre-pandemic 2020. And while the Lunar New Year has depressed bookings over the past few weeks, there was little pre-holiday shipping buildup before the dead period. 

In May,the index predicted a sharp drop of 30 percent in cargo coming into the country within a few weeks. The implication is that shippers are realizing they have too much stuff and nowhere to put it, as consumer demand is eroding faster than expected.

The positive news is that the rate of deterioration has slowed significantly, and a sharp turnaround - either down or up - seems unlikely in the near term. The bottom line is that the bottom line has not been touched until bookings stop falling.