Submitted by QTR's Fringe Finance
This is part 1 of an exclusive Fringe Finance interview with shipping analyst (and friend of mine) J Mintzmyer, where we discuss the state of the supply chain in the country, the developments with Canadian truckers, logistics, the effects of Covid and what shipping names he likes for 2022.
J is a renowned maritime shipping analyst and investor who directs the Value Investor's Edge ("VIE") research platform on Seeking Alpha. You can follow him on Twitter @mintzmyer. J is a frequent speaker at industry conferences, is regularly quoted in trade journals, and hosts a popular podcast featuring shipping industry executives.
J has earned a BS in Economics from the Air Force Academy, an MA in Public Policy from the University of Maryland, and is a PhD Candidate at Harvard University, where he researches global trade flows and security policy.
Q: J, last time we talked was in Fall 2021. How has the supply chain changed since then? Where are the bottlenecks, if any, now?
Despite all the nonsense across the mainstream media about the supply chain "normalizing" or "recovering," by and large we are in a very similar situation as last fall.
This period of time (January-April) is typically the weakest part of the year since we are post-Holidays in the US and Europe and China also slows production around the Lunar New Year, so we would otherwise expect freight rates to crash and congestion to ease....