Supply chain 2023: "Clear and positive trends"

The bleakness of January reflects the rising interest rates and dampened economy that are the start to the New Year. But are things really as bleak as we think? Through our joined forces, we are conserving energy, which keeps the energy crisis somewhat in check. It seems like inflation will be less pronounced than feared in the US, and China is opening up. All this improves the global supply chain and APM Terminals Gothenburg sees several both clear and positive trends during the year.

Fewer bottlenecks. It has been predicted that most logistics chain bottlenecks will have disappeared as early as in Q1 2023. APM Terminals Gothenburg saw the first major signs of this towards the end of the summer 2022, when large parts of the backlog in the supply chain began to drop.

A return to more normal logistic patterns. During the pandemic, imports of consumer goods from Asia rose, driven by increased consumption in Europe and the US. APM Terminals Gothenburg is now seeing a return to pre-pandemic import levels. Swedish exports, which are mainly driven by high demand for Swedish forest products and strong order intake for basic industry, are expected to stay strong during 2023.

Changes in stock trends. Before the pandemic hit, many companies were striving to keep stockpiles as low as they could. During the pandemic, demand and the need to protect supplies grew, leading to a return to larger buffers. The question is where the pendulum will stop in 2023. Per Wahlström, Market Analyst at APM Terminals Gothenburg says: "It might be good to land somewhere in between. The companies that succeed will be those who can adapt quickly to the new reality and have a good overview of customer demand."

New trade patterns here to stay. The pandemic put a lot of pressure on the supply chain. Many companies were forced to redirect their supply chain to ports with greater capacity and more flexible solutions. "We can clearly see that customers who redirected their goods flows to us during the pandemic are here to stay. Actually, the trend is accelerating and more companies are choosing rail solutions to APM Terminals in Gothenburg in favour of their closest port," says Per Wahlström.

Nearshoring moves up the agenda. The terms 'nearshoring' and 'onshoring', have been circulating in the shipping world for years. Could 2023 be the year that this trend really takes hold? According to Per Wahlström, there is a lot to suggest this. " Geopolitical turmoil and lessons learned from the pandemic might change the way companies think about globalisation and supply chains. Nearshoring mean that businesses move all or part of their manufacturing closer to their home markets to enhance resilience and create a more strategic and sustainable supply chain."